11th January Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day

The 11th January is Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day. That is not the same as Morse Code Day. That is celebrated on the birthday of Samual Morse, the 27th April.

Morse Code is a method used in telecommunication to transmit a text with a series of signals. And so, to write a word, each character has to be represented by sequences of dots, dashes, and spaces. Morse is generally transmitted by a hand-operated device such as the telegraph key. It was invented in the United States by the inventor of the telegraph, Samuel Morse, in the 1830s, and later improved by Alfred Lewis Vail. In 1851, to allow more language inclusion, the International Morse Code appeared in Europe. During World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, it was commonly used by the military and the aviation industry.

Morse Code was first demonstrated on January 11, 1838 by Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse. It soon became commonly used by the military and the aviation industry worldwide. Until 1999 the distress signal "SOS", or "··· – – – ···" in Morse code, was used to communicate distress by ships and naval vessels around the world. Although it does not stand for anything it has been remembered as "Save Our Souls" or "Save Our Ship". It was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System in 1999, but is still widely recognised as a distress signal today.

The need for Morse Code has diminished, but children love codes and deciphering them. Getting them to use morse code to write messages to friends is a fun activity. Morse code is a way to transmit text through a series of signals. Each character or alphabet in a language is represented by a sequence of dots and dashes.

To scaffold this activity, introduce some other books about codes and the people who used them.

• Samuel Morse, That's Who! by Tracy Nelson Maurer and El Primo Ramon

 • Code Breaker, Spy Hunter  by Laurie Wallmark and Brooke Smart

• Hedy Lamarr's Double Life  by Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu

•  Grace Hopper Queen of Computer Code  by Laurie Wallmark and Katy Wu

 • Can You Crack the Code?  by Ella Schwartz and Lily Williams

•  How to Write a Secret Code  by Cohe Lamps

• Top Secret  by Crispin Boyer and Suzanne Zimbler

• Cool Coding  by Rob Hansen and Damien Weighill

•  Alpha Bravo Charlie  by Sara Gillingham

•  Jack Rabbit and the Electric Telegraph  by Lucy Margaret Rozier and Leo Espinosa

•  King & Kayla and the Secret Code  by Dori Hillestad Butler

• Billie B. Brown Mystery: Code Breakers  by Sally Rippin