Morse Code Day is a holiday observed annually on April 27th that commemorates the life and work of Samuel Morse. He was born on this day in 1791 and is credited with creating a form of communication that fundamentally changed how information was disseminated.

After inventing the electric telegraph, he and his friend Alfred Vail developed Morse Code—a system of representing letters, numbers, and punctuation marks using spaces, dashes, and dots.

Even though the technology may seem outdated by today’s standards, it was an important step in long-distance communication and served society for many years. It is for this reason that we still celebrate this holiday and the man it honors.

The History of Morse Code Day

Morse Code was invented in the U.S. by American inventor and artist Samuel Morse. He developed it during the 1830s for use in electrical telegraphy. It would be further refined by American businessman and scientist Alfred Lewis Vail, who was Morse’s partner and assistant.

Although this system of communication worked well in the United States, it was discovered that it did not work very well in Europe for non-English messages. In 1851, a variant of Morse Code was developed and would be named International Morse Code.

It is currently unknown who invented Morse Code Day. We know it was created to honor Samuel Morse and his work on this system of communication, but we are unsure of when this holiday was established. We will continue to try to find the true origins of this holiday, but until we do, we hope the information we have included in this section will suffice.

Some Quick Facts About Morse Code

Below are some quick facts about Morse Code that we would like our readers to know. We stumbled across these facts during our research for this holiday and think they provide a bit of depth to the holiday.

• The first official telegram in Morse Code was sent in 1844.
• The SOS signal is still used and it originates from Morse Code. It consists of three dots, three dashes, and three dots.
• The Pony Express was put out of business in 1861 by Morse Code.

Observing Morse Code Day

This holiday can be observed in a number of different ways. People can take the time to learn more about the history of Morse Code, or they can even take it upon themselves to learn it. There are plenty of online resources that teach both American and International Morse Codes; all a person has to do is find one.

Once they have learned Morse Code, they can then send “secret” messages to friends and family members. As usual, people can take the time to spread the word about this holiday using the hashtag #MorseCodeDay on social media.