3 things you didn’t know about Morse code
How much time does it take send a message from your smartphone? Less than fraction of a second, right? But there was a point of time when reaching out to your close ones wasn’t at the tip of your fingers, as it is now! We are talking about pre-internet and mobile phone era. Back then, a machine called telegraph was the norm for communication. It could only transmit electric pulse signals across a wire, to be received at the other end and be decoded as a message. This was extremely limiting and inventors were trying to devise newer ways to communicate. So, Morse code was invented - to make the process easier.
The Morse code is a method to convert text characters into standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called dots and dashes. These dots and dashes represent alphabets, punctuations and numbers and are transmitted via sound, light or radio waves. An experienced listener may de-code the Morse code without any special tools or equipment. This code was developed by and named after the American inventor and painter Samuel Finley Breese Morse, who co-developed the electrical telegraph system with his assistant Alfred Lewis Vail, at the beginning of 1836.
The invention of Morse code allowed the translation of the electric pulses of the telegraph machine into regular English by giving each letter and number a fixed combination of short and long signals. Together, Morse code and telegraph both fundamentally altered long-distance communication. Here are five interesting facts about Morse code you didn’t know.
Morse Code saved hundreds on the Titanic!
We all know the tragic tale of ‘The Titanic.’ The heroic rescue of 700 passengers from the royal ship on 14th April, 1912 was made possible due to wireless telegraph technology and the Morse code. The Titanic was equipped with the best wireless technology manufactured by the Marconi Company.
On the fatal night of 14th April, Titanic slammed into an iceberg in the calm sea. Harold Cottam, the radio operator on the adjacent ship named Cunard liner Carpathia was still awake and received the first distress signal transmitted by Titanic’s senior radio operator Jack Phillips. The Morse code sent was CQD DE MGY, where CQD meant ‘come quick disaster’, DE stood for ‘this is,’ and MGY was the Titanic’s call sign. When Carpathia got a distress signal from the Titanic, it immediately turned towards its given position, which was 60 miles away.
Musicians have used the Morse code too!
You will be surprised to learn that the International Morse Code is not a written language but a sound-based one! Each letter of the code is represented by a combination of short and long sounds known as dots and dashes. An eighth note is played for each dot or a short sound. A quarter note is played for each dash or long sound. Moreover, these are not just two sounds, long and short. Rather, there are five distinct sounds, dah, di, dit, didy and didit that make up this Morse code.
When you think about it, Morse code is a collection of rhythmic patterns. So, it’s no surprise that the use of Morse code has also impacted the music industry. Yes! Songs by musicians such as the B-52s, Roger Waters and Kraftwerk have all used the Morse code, either as a sound effect or as part of the song’s actual musical composition. The song Better Days by Natalia Guiterrez Y Angelo, London Calling by Mick Jones, Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles, and Radioactivity by Kraftwerk all have Morse code.
There are multiple Morse codes today
You’d assume there is a universal Morse code. However, that is not the case. Rather, there are two types of Morse codes: The original ‘American’ Morse code and the international Morse code. The American Morse code was developed in the 1830s. After it was introduced in Europe, it became evident that it lacked codes for letters with markings for different languages and non-English text. An alternative known as the International Morse code was developed by a gathering of European nations in 1851. The Japanese version, the Wabun code, or the SKATS, the Korean Morse code, are all examples of international Morse codes that use the Latin alphabet.