# 890 - 2¢ Samuel Morse: plate block - Inventor

Although many inventors were working on systems that used electricity to send messages over long distances at the beginning of the 19th century, Samuel Morse developed a working model by 1838. Funded by the U.S. Congress, Morse engineered a 40 mile line from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. On May 24, 1844 Morse tapped out his famous, and somewhat ominous, words -- "What hath God wrought!" Scott 890 Samuel Morse