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Semaphore is a visual signalling system invented by a Frenchman, Claude Chappe, in 1793. Different letters are represented by holding flags or lights outstretched in different positions around a circle. Prior to 1793, Chappe had experimented with a number of telegraph designs along with his brother, but these proved less than successful. The semaphore telegraph that Chappe designed consisted of a large pivoted horizontal beam, with two smaller bars attached at the ends, looking rather like a person with outstreched hands holding signal flags. The position of the horizontal beam could be altered, as well as the angle of the indicator bars at the ends. Chappe had developed the semaphore system to be used in the French revolution, to transmit messages between Paris and Lille, which was near the war front. |
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