Claude Chappe (1763 to 1805) was a French inventor, born in Brûlon, Sarthe, who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. It was a chain of towers within line of sight of each other, each carrying a wooden mast with two crossarms on pivots; operators moved the arms to spell out messages in semaphore code, and the operator in the next tower read each message through a telescope and passed it on. The final design allowed a 196 combination code. His source calls it the first practical telecommunications system of the industrial age, used until the 1850s when electric telegraph systems replaced it. He worked with his brothers, and Ignace Chappe helped win the Legislative Assembly's support for a first line from Paris to Lille.
Facts
Contribution Kind Highest HonourMember of the Société philomathique de Paris 2 Notable WorkChappe semaphore telegraph (1792) 1 Connections
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Source Wikipedia (French): Claude Chappe
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Source Claude Chappe (Wikipedia)
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Source Claude Chappe (Wikipedia)Lead, nationalityQuote, Lead, nationality
was a French inventor
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1. Claude Chappe (Wikipedia)
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25 December 1763-23 January 1805
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was a French inventor
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This was the first practical telecommunications system of the industrial age
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demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France
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This was the first practical telecommunications system of the industrial age
View the Source2. Wikipedia (French): Claude Chappe
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Société philomathique de Paris, où il fut reçu à la fin de l'année 1792
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