111th Congress, 2nd Session
The first news of House business submitted by telegraph
May 25, 1844
On this date during the 28th Congress (1843–1845), the first news of House business was submitted by telegraph. Inventor, Samuel Morse—who, on the previous day, had sent the first ever telegraph signal from the Supreme Court Chamber (then located in the Capitol building) to demonstrate his invention—tapped a message to the Baltimore Patriot newspaper that the House had rejected going into the Committee of the Whole to discuss the establishment of the territorial government in Oregon. This first dispatch of congressional business via Morse’s invention opened a new era of congressional reporting. News outlets outside Washington, which typically relied on days-old reports delivered by local newspapers and “letter writers” posted in the galleries, marveled at the new instant communication. “Space is annihilated,” announced the Baltimore magazine, Niles Weekly Register. “By the time the result of the vote of congress is announced by the speaker, in the capitol, it is known at the Pratt street depot, in the city of Baltimore!” Morse began selling reports on congressional business to the Baltimore American newspaper for a penny per word.
Related Highlight Subjects
Cite this Highlight
Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/highlights.html?action=view&intID=336, (December 07, 2010).For Additional Information
Office of History and Preservation(202) 226-1300
history@mail.house.gov
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Image of reporters at the House of Representatives telegraph office
Frank Leslie“s Illustrated, December 18, 1875,
Teaching Tip
Inventing the Future
Ask students to find three highlight dates pertaining to technology in the House. Have students brainstorm and draft a list of five possible advancements for the House and five for their own daily lives which may occur during the next 20 years.
