A character code invented by Samuel Morse that is represented by the duration of a single tone. Written as dots, dashes and spaces, the first Morse code message was sent in 1844 over a newly constructed telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington. In World War II, Morse code was sent by light signals. A variation of the original was made by Friedrich Gerke in 1848, which evolved into the International Morse Code.
Dits and Dahs - Actually Hear Them!
The code was based on English; E and T being the most frequently used letters, hence one dot was assigned to E and one dash for T (see table below). Dots and dashes are vocalized as "dit" and "dah," and the timing is one dit between each dit and dah, three dits between letters and seven dits between words. To hear an audible translation in Morse code of any text, visit http://morsecode.scphillips.com. Try catching the rhythm.
Morse Code Beat Out Texting
In 2007, Tonight Show host Jay Leno posed a speed challenge. Given the secret message at the same time "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance," the Morse code operator tapped all the words to his colleague across the stage before the young texter could finish typing the sentence. See
Gmail Tap and
telegraph.
International Morse Code
A .- U ..-
B -... V ...-
C -.-. W .--
D -.. X -..-
E . Y -.--
Z --..
F ..-.
G --. 0 -----
H .... 1 .----
I .. 2 ..---
J .--- 3 ...--
4 ....-
K -.- 5 .....
L .-.. 6 -....
M -- 7 --...
N -. 8 ---..
O --- 9 ----.
P .--. Period .-.-.-
Q --.- Comma --..--
R .-. ? Mark ..--..
S ... Hyphen -....-
T - Apostrophe .----.
Colon ---...
U ..- Quotation .-..-.
V ...- Slash -..-.
W .-- @ sign .--.-.
X -..-
Y -.--
Z --..