#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

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Exhibitions

„Born Free”

October 5-15, 2017

The photographic exhibition "Born Free" was opened on the upper lobby of the National Museum of History of Moldova in the framework of the events from the agenda of the 13th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media which took place in the Republic of Moldova between October 4 and 8. The exhibition is a partnership project between the Bulgarian Press Agency BTA, the National Library "Saints Cyril and Methodius" and the University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

The exhibition has 23 stands on display presenting the history of the Bulgarian press during the national revival period (60-70s of the 19th century). It is meant to recreate the hawkish spirit of the national-political revival of the Bulgarian press.

The press played an important role in the evolution of Bulgarian culture. Moreover, it crystallized and consolidated national sentiment, acting as a factor for the acquisition of religious independence and preparing the national revolution. The aspiration for freedom, for spiritual and material fulfillment finds its expression in the first newspapers and magazines published in Bucharest and Tsarigrad by the Bulgarian progressive thinkers.

The periodicals of that time have a distinctive feature of thematic diversity. In accordance with the requirements of time and thirst for knowledge, these periodicals inform, analyze, urge change, and train. Their themes are diverse, including analysis of social trends, agricultural advice, household maintenance guidelines, educational and moralizing articles, reflections on philosophical topics, and even media gossip around the world. The style of the publishers was not triggered by profits, but by the idea of awakening of a nation, that is why in the exhibition there are also images of the most famous Bulgarian intellectuals of those times.

In the exhibition are displayed the newspapers "Svoboda" (Liberty) and "Nezavisimost" (Independence), published by Liuben Karavelov; "Duma na bulgarskite emigranti" (The word of Bulgarian immigrants), "Budilnik" (Alarm-clock) and "Zname" (Flag), edited by Hristo Botev; "Branitel" (Defender) and "Badustnost" (Future), edited by Gheorghi S. Rakovski; "Nova Bulgaria" (New Bulgaria), edited by Stefan Stambolov.

Born free, promoting the most progressive ideas of the time and firmly defending the universal human values, the Bulgarian journalism of the period of national revival paved the way for the coveted Independence.