If Samuel Morse were alive today, he'd be proud. the first U.S. telegraph line, completed in 1844, helped pave the way for America's modern telecommunications network. In the 1850s, telegraph wires crisscrossed the country, connecting hundreds of railroad stations, and by the turn of the century they had made their way to Europe via transatlantic cables. The invention of the telephone, and, later, satellites and computers, expanded telecommunications into virtually every geographical nook and cranny and transformed communicating via Morse's dots and dashes into the exchange of ideas using words and images.

Select from the choices above to read the entire article.