Samuel F.B. Morse and Albert Vail apply for a prize offered by the federal government.

(Dec.) [9/2/1837-Silverman] The $30,000 prize is offered for a workable long-distance system of communication, which they subsequently create. The first successful telegraph in the world, it is demonstrated by the pair publicly for the first time in Morristown, New Jersey, on January 6, 1838. The first public, long-distance demonstration of the telegraph takes place in 1844.*