| Eli Whitney invented a cotton gin in 1793. He invented the cotton gin because he saw the problems that the people had as he was traveling through Georgia. This cotton gin helped the people separate the seed faster. The cotton gin did more work than 10 people put together. The way that the cotton gin worked was by separating the seed from the cotton. The seeds were separated by the teeth that the cotton had. The procedure for working the cotton. 1st you put the cotton in the entrance. Then you turn the handle which rotates the brush and the brush takes the fiber and shoots it out of the exit hole. |
|
|
When Samuel Morse invented the telegraph in 1837, he could have never foreseen the communications revolution he would start. The telegraph is simply a system of communication employing an electrical apparatus to transmit and receive signals in accordance with a code of electrical pulses, yet it led the way for modern communications. The telegraph was the predecessor to the phone, and the television. Even today, a modern version of the telegraph is used for long distance communications.
In the 1830’s, Samuel Morse was a painter on board a ship returning from Europe. After seeing a very basic version of the telegraph on the ship he decided to perfect the telegraph so it could have practical uses. In 1837 he invented the first telegraph.
The first telegraph worked very simply. A basic electrical switch sent off an electrical current for an amount of time based on how long the operator put pressure on the switch. The operator would put pressure on the switch for short periods of time, so when received the message would resemble dots and dashes.
The original receiver had an electro magnetically controlled pencil that would draw marks on a piece of paper. The marks would be displayed as dots and dashes and a telegraph operator would immediately decode the marks into words. The code of dots and dashes was known as the Morse code. Eventually, the receiver was removed from the mass produced version of the telegraph as operators found they could very easily decode the electrical pulses without the help of the electro magnetically controlled pencil.
However, at the time telegraphy was too expensive for every individual to own in the same way people own phones today. Often, towns or cities would have a telegraph station where, for a nominal fee, people could have a telegraph message sent as an alternative to the postal service.
Samuel Morse’s telegraph had a major impact on modern communications and while today the telegraph has been replaced by telephones, it is still remembered.
Works Cited:
· Microsoft Encarta 2000. CD-ROM. ©1999 Microsoft Corp.
Image: A Telegraph Operator
|
|
