Object Details
Manufacturer
J. H. Bunnell & Co.
Physical Description
Telegraph key mounted on pine base, knob broken off. Key lever and sounder hammer are ferrous metal, other metal components non-ferrous. Wiring mounted in grooves on underside of base. 150 ohms. Used to send news of Wright brothers' first flights on Decemebr 17, 1903.
Summary
The famous telegram sent home to Dayton, Ohio, from Kitty Hawk, N.C., by the Wright brothers after their successful flights on December 17, 1903, was sent using this telegraph key. The text of the telegram was as follows:
"Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty-one mile per hour wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty-one miles longest 57 seconds inform press home Christmas. Orevelle Wright."
There were two errors in transmission. The flight was actually 59 seconds in duration and Orville's name was misspelled.
Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Beverly Griffith
Inventory Number
A19710854000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
EQUIPMENT-Communications Devices
Materials
Metal (non-ferrous and ferrous), wood
Dimensions
3-D (1225g): 25.1 × 12.9 × 7.7cm, 1.2kg (9 7/8 × 5 1/16 × 3 1/16 in., 2.6lb.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Location
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Exhibition
Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19710854000
