Hughes, David Edward

Born May 16, 1831, in London; died there Jan. 22, 1900. Physicist; inventor in the field of electrical engineering. Fellow of the Royal Society of London (1880).

Hughes taught at St. Joseph’s College in Bardstown, Ky., from 1850 to 1854. He was named a professor of music there in 1850 and a professor of physics in 1851. In 1855 he patented a printing telegraph that was first used commercially in 1856 in the USA. It began finding application in many countries of Europe, including Russia, in 1862. In 1878, independently of others, Hughes invented the carbon microphone. He designed an induction balance and a sound ranger in 1879. In the same year, Hughes made experimental observations of electromagnetic waves, but he was unable to explain the phenomenon involved.