Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"His work in this field finally came to fruition on January 6, 1838, when he demonstrated his eponymous telegraphic code. . . . Morse could not patent his telegraph, as he was beaten to it by Europeans, but he patented Morse Code in October 1837 and successfully demonstrated it in New York in January 1838, at a speed of 10 words per minute." [Furtado: 1001 Days] "A series of international scientific advances paved the way for Morse's demonstration. Alessandro Volta had invented the electric battery in 1800; Hans Christian Oersted and Andre Marie Ampere researched electromagnetic signals; William Sturgeon devised the electromagnet in 1824; and in1831 the American physicist Joseph Henry announced his method for strengthening the intensity of an electromagnet so that the current could be transmitted across long distances." [Howe: What Hath God Wrought, p. 692]