The World's First Text Message (1844) - "What Hath God Wrought?"

Telegrams were the first text messages. Morse Code was invented by Samuel Morse in 1836. On May 24, 1844, Morse sent the first long distance telegraph message, "What hath God wrought?" from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore. Much as modern electronic communications have transformed our modern world, the telegraph changed politics, culture, the economy, even warfare. If you have seen the movie "Lincoln," you saw the critical role those short messages played in the Civil War.

This piece is from my Lost Modern Language Series. This series presents a visual interpretation of the dots and dashes of Morse Code, enabling the viewer to "read" the artwork. The piece reads, "What Hath God Wrought." The longer rectangular boxes are the ""dashes,"" with the shorter ones being the "dots." The corresponding letter of our traditional alphabet is quilted inside the Morse Code symbols.