Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) on engraving from 1873. American painter and inventor. Engraved by unknown artist and published in ''Portrait Gallery of Eminent Men and Women with Biographies'' ...

Samuel Morse, an artist by trade, was convinced he could reduce the number of wires to one. By 1832, he had a crude prototype using a homemade battery and a relatively weak Sturgeon electromagnet.