On May 24th, 1844, Samuel F. B. Morse electronically transmitted the message "What hath God wrought?" While it took him many years, Morse was finally able to receive a grant that allowed him to build a telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore. The telegraph would go on to revolutionize the world's communication. 

Image: http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/cscie129/nu_lectures/lecture5/elec...