How did people talk before cell phones? | History Remade with Sabrina

How did a simple series of dots and dashes transform worldwide communication? To find out, Sabrina recreates the telegraph, Samuel Morse's groundbreaking 1832 invention (and your cell phone's cool great-grandparent). Learn more in this episode of History Remade with Sabrina.

Watch new episodes of The Engineering That Built the World on Sundays at 9/8c, and stay up to date on all of your favorite The HISTORY Channel shows at http://history.com/schedule.

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CREDITS

Executive Producer
Sabrina Cruz
Melissa Fernandes
Taha Khan

Producer
Molly Williams

Researcher
George Lawson

Craft Engineer
Jade Codinera

Writer
Sabrina Cruz

Host
Sabrina Cruz

Director
Melissa Fernandes

B-Cam / DIT
River Shepperd

Production Assistant
Gabrielle Augustin
Varman Nava

Story Editor
Stephanie Castillo

Editor
Chase Madsen

Animators
Krisztina Varga
Olivér Varga

Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman

Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan

VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard

VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary

Music Courtesy of
Audio Network

Additional Footage and Photos Provided By
Wikimedia Commons
Pexels.com
Freepik.com
Metmuseum.org
Library of Congress

Produced by Answer in Progress for HISTORY®
©2021 A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SOURCES
Dot-Dash to Dot.Com How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph, (2011) A. Wheen, Springer New York.

“Essay on the development of Morse telegraphy by Werner von Siemens 'induction telegraphy and enhanced magnetic systems’” (2021) in Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Vol.138 (4-5).

ReMaking History, Volume 2: Industrial Revolutionaries (2016) W. Gurstelle, Maker Media.

Samuel F. B. Morse and the Dawn of the Age of Electricity, (2015) G. Botjer, Lexington Books.

“The Influence of the Telegraph in the United States Society in the 19th Century” (2010) by F. Saez de Adana in 2010 Second Region 8 IEEE Conference on the History of Communications available at DOI: 10.1109/HISTELCON.2010.5735291

http://www.samuelmorse.net/

https://www.loc.gov/collections/samue...

http://w1tp.com/perbuild.htm

https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-his...

Wiring the World: the Social and Cultural Creation of Global Telegraph Networks (2016) S. Muller, Colombia University Press.

“The Transatlantic Telegraph Cable” (2000) by G. Cookson, in History Today, Vol.50 (3).

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Welcome to the joke under the fold!

When I was a kid, I really wanted to learn Morse Code... My hopes were dashed.

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How did people talk before cell phones? | History Remade with Sabrina
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