author
Edward E. Kleinschmidt
1876–1977
A prolific inventor who helped shape modern text communication, he was one of the key figures behind the teleprinter. Over a remarkably long life, he earned 118 patents and worked on everything from stock tickers to railroad signaling.
1 Audiobook
Printing Telegraphy... A New Era Begins
by Edward E. Kleinschmidt
About the author
Born in Bremen, Germany, in 1876, Edward Ernst Kleinschmidt immigrated to the United States as a child and grew into one of the notable inventors of early communications technology. He is best remembered as one of the inventors of the teleprinter, a machine that helped move long-distance messaging beyond manual Morse code and toward faster, automated text transmission.
Kleinschmidt was not a one-invention man. Sources consistently describe him as a prolific engineer and businessman who developed devices including a high-speed stock ticker, an automatic fishing reel, and railroad signaling equipment. Across his lifetime, he was granted 118 patents, a sign of both technical range and unusual persistence.
He lived from September 9, 1876, to August 22, 1977, reaching the age of 100. That long life allowed him to witness the communications revolution he helped set in motion, from the age of telegraphy into the modern era of rapid electronic messaging.