#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

Launch of the book „History, truth and myths”

June 16th, 2015

On June 16th, The National Museum of History of Moldova hosted the book launch „History, truth and myths", Editura Enciclopedică, București, 2014, 400 p., signed by academician univ. prof. dr. Ioan-Aurel Pop, rector of University „Babeș-Bolyai" from Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The event, which was organized by the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, was attended by over 100 persons - academicians, historians, university professors, students of History Department - among whom: vice-president of ASM acad. Ion Tighineanu, vice-president of ASM associate Ion Guceac, acad. Andrei Eșanu, univ. prof. dr. hab. Alexandru Moșanu; director of the Romanian Cultural Institute „Mihai Eminescu" from Chișinău Valeriu Matei, H.E. Ambassador of Romania in the Republic of Moldova Marius Lazurcă, vice-rector of University „Babeș-Bolyai" from Cluj univ. prof. dr. Ioan Bolovan, univ. prof. dr. Sorin Șipoș from the University of Oradea ș.a.

The book „History, truth and myths" is an analysis of Lucian Boia's work „History and myth in Romanian consciousness", it is a scientific answer to the attempts of falsifying the history of Romanians.

The need for these reading notes on "demystification" of Romanian history, as stated by the author himself "... raises from professional solidarity, as Mr. Boia and those who follow him, create the belief that historical research has no sense, is false, misleading and full of myths". Another reason for the publication of an "over-sized" review is the spread of Mr. Boia's ideas abroad where we are presented in a distorted way with damaging propaganda results.
About the notorious historian from Cluj and the scientific value of his book spoke the director of the Institute of History dr. hab. Gheorghe Cojocaru, associate of ASM univ. prof. dr. hab. Demir Dragnev, univ. prof. dr. hab. Alexandru Moșanu, univ. prof. dr. hab. Anatol Petrencu, historian dr. Marius Tărâță, director of the Romanian Cultural Institute „Mihai Eminescu" Valeriu Matei, chief editor of weekly „Literatura și Arta" associate of ASM Nicolae Dabija, univ. prof. dr. Ioan Bolovan, univ. prof. dr. Sorin Șipoș.

On the occasion of his arrival in Chișinău, Ioan Aurel Pop was conferred the title of Honorary Member of ASM.
Professor Ioan-Aurel Pop is author of over 50 books, publications of historic resources, university treaties and textbooks and collective works and over 300 studies, articles, reviews, reports, chronicles, prefaces etc. in separate volumes and special journals and cultural publications.

Ioan-Aurel Pop is rector of the University Babeș-Bolyai, member of the Romanian Academy, director of the center of Transilvanian Studies of the Romanian Academy, being specialized in medieval history, medieval institutions and Latin paleography.

Before becoming rector of the University Babeș-Bolyai in Cluj, Ioan-Aurel Pop was director of the Romanian Cultural Center in New York (1994-1995) and director of the Romanian Cultural and Humanistic Research Institute in Venice (2003-2007).

From 1989, Ioan-Aurel Pop is a PhD in history with the thesis „Princely meetings in Transilvania in the 14th-16th centuries", he became the youngest associate of the Romanian Academy and from 2010 is member of the Romanian Academy.

Launch of the book: Ioan-Aurel Pop, „History, truth and myths” , București, Editura Enciclopedică, 2014. 402 p.