#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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Events Archive

The 12th Edition of the Heraldic Symposium

27 April 2018

On the Day of the State Flag of the Republic of Moldova, the day we also celebrate the state coat of arms of our country, the Society of Genealogy, Heraldry and Archives "Paul Gore", in a traditional partnership with the National Heraldry Commission by the President of the Republic of Moldova and the National Museum of History of Moldova organized the 12th Heraldic Symposium in the conference room of the museum, which was attended by around thirty scholars from the scientific community of Chișinău.

After the play of the Moldovan State Anthem and of the "Three Colors" (Ion Aldea-Teodorovici - Grigore Vieru), the opening speech was given by Silviu Tabac, President of the "Paul Gore" Society, followed by greeting messages by Corneliu Popovici, president of the National Heraldic Commission and by Elena Ploşnita, scientific secretary of the National Museum of History of Moldova.

With moderators Mariana Şlapac and Silviu Tabac, the symposium included the presentation of eight scientific papers. The first two speakers (Silviu Tabac and Vlad Mischevca) referred to the vexilology of Ștefan cel Mare. The next two participants (Ana Boldureanu and Adelaida Chiroşca) made a contribution in the field of sigilography presenting the leads in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova and two Basarabian ecclesiastical seals of the modern age respectively. Tudor-Radu Tiron (Bucharest) made a presentation about phaleristics in "An ephemeral Romanian distinction: The Medal for Life" (1953-1958)".

Nicolae Schițco remembered the events and the concrete conditions that led to the creation of the National Heraldic Commission. From the field of political hymnology, Diana Nicoglo spoke about the "Elements of ethnic identification in the text of the Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unity". Finally, the representative of the National Bank of Moldova, Corneliu Melnic, presented the new metal coins introduced into circulation in the Republic of Moldova.

The works were conducted in a scientific atmosphere, rising questions, comments and collegial debates related to the discussed topics. Mass media support was provided by Nicolae Becciu, reporter at Radio-Moldova, and by the television channel "Accent-TV".