Intro
Today we live in the age of wireless communication — cellphones, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connect us instantly. But this power was built step by step, through the work of a few daring pioneers.
Morse & Vail
In 1837, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail created the telegraph and Morse code, the first digital language. In 1851, at the Paris Telegraph Conference, nations adopted Morse code as the world’s standard.
Edison
In 1869, Thomas Edison advanced telegraphy with the quadruplex system, sending multiple messages at once. His work opened the electrical age of communication.
Hertz
In 1887, Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves — invisible energy that could leap across space without wires.
Marconi
Building on Hertz’s discovery, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901, proving that oceans could no longer block human conversation.
Titanic / SOS
All these discoveries converged in 1906, when the Berlin Conference adopted SOS as the universal distress signal. And in 1912, during the sinking of the Titanic, wireless operators sent SOS across the Atlantic, saving lives and proving the world had entered the age of wireless digital communication.
Closing
The awe is this: four inventors, one international decision, and a single tragic shipwreck created the foundation of the wireless world we depend on today.