Claude Chappe

Born Dec. 25,1763, in Brúlon, Sarthe Department; died Jan. 23,1805, in Paris. French engineer; inventor of the semaphore telegraph.

Chappe was accorded the title of telegraph engineer in 1793. In 1794 he and his brothers built between Paris and Lille the world’s first semaphore telegraph line. In the same year, Chappe was appointed director of the French telegraph lines.