born April 27, 1791, Charlestown, Mass., U.S. died April 2, 1872, New York, N.Y. U.S. painter and inventor. The son of a distinguished geographer, he attended Yale University and studied painting in England (1811-15). He returned home to work as an itinerant painter; his portraits still rank among the finest produced in the U.S. He cofounded the National Academy of Design and served as its first president (1826-45). Independent of similar efforts in Europe, he developed an electric telegraph (1832-35), believing his to be the first. He developed the system of dots and dashes that became known internationally as Morse code (1838). Though denied support from Congress for a transatlantic telegraph line, he received congressional support for the first U.S. telegraph line, from Baltimore to Washington; on its completion in 1844 he sent the message "What hath God wrought!" His patents brought him fame and wealth