January 11, 1838 Happy Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day! On this day in 1838, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail transmitted the first successful telegraph message. Morse developed in the 1830s what became known as Morse Code, the primary language used in the transmission of messages using an electric telegraph machine. The telegraph, using Morse Code, is intimately tied to the development of Sacramento starting in the 1850s. In 1854, the Alta Telegraph Company built a telegraph line between Sacramen