Video: 'What Hath God Wrought?'

(Friday, May 24, 1844, 8:45 a.m. local time) — Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message “What hath God wrought” today from Washington to Baltimore as he formally opened America’s first telegraph line.

It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems called telegraphs, that were devised to communicate text messages more quickly than physical transportation.

Video: 'The History of Morse Code'

Morse’s line was demonstrated from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol in Washington to the Mount Clare station of the railroad in Baltimore, and commenced with the transmission of Morse’s first message (from Washington) to Alfred Vail (in Baltimore), “What hath God wrought,” a phrase from the Bible’s Book of Numbers.

The phrase was suggested by Annie Ellsworth, whose husband was a supporter of Morse’s, and knew Morse was religious.