1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Hey y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: events in history, one from me and one from former 3 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: host Tracy V. Wilson. On with the show Welcome to 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: this day in History class from how Stuff Works dot 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: com and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in 6 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 7 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: one day at a time with a quick look at 8 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: what happened today in history. Welcome to the podcast. I'm 9 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and it's August sixteenth. On this day 10 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: in eighty eight, the first messages were sent along the 11 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: first trans Atlantic telegraph cable. So you're listening to a 12 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: podcast that means you can probably talk to people and 13 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: a lot of the world instantly. But it really wasn't 14 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: all that long ago that getting a message from one 15 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: side of the Atlantic to the other required you to 16 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: put somebody on a boat with a letter in their hand, 17 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: or maybe telling somebody just hoping they would remember it 18 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: by the time they got to the other side of 19 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: the ocean, and then getting to the point of even 20 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: thinking about transmitting a message along some kind of a 21 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: wire across the ocean, that required somebody to invent a 22 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: communication system that would work that way. The man that 23 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: gets a lot of credit for that is Samuel F. B. Morse. 24 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty nine, he was on his way back 25 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: from a trip to Europe, where he had gone to 26 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: try to recover from the deaths of his parents and 27 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: his wife, and he struck up a conversation with Charles 28 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: Thomas Jackson in which they talked about ideas for transmitting 29 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: messages along a cable using an electrical current, based on 30 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 1: the work of other inventors. Once he got home, Morse 31 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: and his partner Alfred Vale worked up a prototype for 32 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: a telegraph machine and the system of communication that it 33 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: would use, which was of course, later known as Morse Code. 34 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: There were tens of thousands of miles of telegraph lines 35 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: all across North America and Europe before people ever started 36 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: talking about running one across the ocean. Financier Cyrus Westfield 37 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: was the driving force behind this in the United States. 38 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: Starting an eighteen fifty four he started the New York, 39 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, and it took six months 40 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: just to make the cable. This cable was huge, A 41 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,239 Speaker 1: mile of it weighed about a ton, and it was 42 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: divided up between two ships which left the coast of 43 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: Ireland together in eighteen fifty seven, and the idea was 44 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: that one ship, which was the Niagara, would lay down 45 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: its line of cable and when it ran out, the 46 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: HMS Agamemnon would connect the end of its cable to 47 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: the other end of the one from the Niagara and 48 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: then finished the rest of the way. Things went pretty 49 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: well with his plan for about six days, and then 50 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: the cable snap on. Both ships had to go back 51 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: to port and they had to make more than four 52 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: miles of new cable to make up for what had 53 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: been lost. When they tried again, they tried a different approach. 54 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: Both ships started in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 55 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: connected their cables and started in the opposite directions. That 56 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: did not work. The cable broke almost immediately. They tried 57 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: again again the cable snap They kept on going over 58 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: and over, and after so many failures, finally four ships 59 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: met in the middle of the Atlantic on July twenty 60 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,519 Speaker 1: n efty eight. Two of the ships headed in each 61 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: direction and finally nothing broke. All the ships got to 62 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: where they were going. The line was complete on August five, 63 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 1: and on the sixteenth of August. The first message went 64 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: along and here's what it said, quote Directors of Atlantic 65 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: Telegraph Company, Great Britain to directors in America. Europe and 66 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the 67 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: highest on Earth, peace and goodwill toward men. The next day, 68 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan traded their own very 69 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,119 Speaker 1: long winded telegraph messages. It was none of this arrived 70 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: stop safe stop. It went on and on and took 71 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: seventeen minutes to transmit. But this is really a temporary victory. 72 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: The cable wasn't strong enough. Operators on both ends were 73 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to use right voltage without 74 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: having a good way to talk to each other about 75 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: what they were doing in real time, and for a 76 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: time that voltage was way too high and stressed to 77 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: the cable. It stopped working on September eighth, eighty eight, 78 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: after it had successfully carried about four messages. But this 79 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: is really a story of try, try again. More cables followed, 80 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: including better and faster ones, and then other methods of communication, 81 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: but this is really the start of a global communication network. 82 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,679 Speaker 1: You can learn more about the first Transatlantic telegraph cable 83 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: on the November episode of Stuffy Missed in History Class. 84 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: Thanks to Teri Harrison for her audio skills on these episodes. 85 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to This Day in History Class on 86 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Tomorrow, 87 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: We're going to get into a huge miscarriage of justice. 88 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: Hi um Eves, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 89 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: a show that reveals a little bit more about history 90 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: day by day. The day was August sixteenth, nineteen, a 91 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: flying competition organized by James D. Dole, founder of the 92 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:27,359 Speaker 1: Hawaiian Pineapple Company, began. Pilots entered the competition in the 93 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: hopes of winning the prize, money and a little fame, 94 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: but the doll Air Race, as it was known, began 95 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: and ended in tragedy. The nineteen twenties were still the 96 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: early days of airplane aviation. Navigation was a rudimentary and 97 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: safety standards were nowhere near where they are today. People 98 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:54,480 Speaker 1: had already completed NonStop cross ocean flights. In May of nineteen, 99 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: just three months before the doll Air Race, Charles Lindbergh 100 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: took the first solo NonStop transatlantic flight from New York 101 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: to Paris, driven by Limburgh's accomplishment, James D. Dole set 102 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: up an air race for pilots to fly from Oakland, California, 103 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: to Honolulu, Hawaii. He offered twenty five thousand dollars to 104 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: the pilot who made it their first and ten thousand 105 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: dollars to the person who came in second place. Not 106 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: long after Dole offered the prizes for the trip, two 107 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: Army pilots successfully flew from Oakland to Oahu, but Dole's 108 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: prize for making the trip from Oakland to Honolulu still stood. 109 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: Thirty three people entered the competition and fourteen entrants were 110 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: chosen for starting positions after inspections. The competition, though, was 111 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: off to a bad start even before the air race 112 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: was scheduled to take place. Lieutenants George Walter, Daniel Kobo, 113 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: and Richard Stokeley Wagner left North Island Naval Air Station 114 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: in San Diego on August ten headed for Oakland Field. 115 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: Less than fifteen minutes later, they ran into heavy fog 116 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: and crashed into cliffs. Both of the officers died. British 117 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: aviator Arthur Vickers was out for a test fight when 118 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: his plane crashed not long after takeoff from Montabello, California. 119 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: On August eleven, another airplane called miss Dorin had to 120 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: make an emergency landing after having engine trouble, and the 121 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: Pride of Los Angeles, on his way to Oakland, crashed 122 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: into the San Francisco Bay. The people and those two 123 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: airplanes were not hurt. By August sixteen, eight planes and 124 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: fifteen competitors were left in the running. That morning, they 125 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: all lined up ready for takeoff in front of a 126 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: crowd of around a hundred thousand people. Their starting positions 127 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: were selected by a random draw. The Oklahoma was the 128 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: first plane to take off, but it soon had end 129 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: in trouble and its flight had to be aborted. L 130 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: in Conto did not even make it to take off. 131 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: The Pepcode Flyer crashed on takeoff after lifting into the 132 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: air briefly, only to crash again after a second attempt. 133 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: Nobody on board these planes were hurt. The Golden Eagle 134 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: took off without issue. The airplane Miss Dorin took off, 135 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: returned after engine trouble, and later took off again successfully. 136 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: Dallas Spirit carrying pilot William Portwood Irwin and navigator Alvin Hanford. I. 137 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: Walt took off but returned to Oakland soon after. The 138 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: planes Aloha and wool Rock, took off without a hitch. 139 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: Only two planes made it to Hawaii, Aloha and wool Rock. 140 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: Wool Rock arrived after a twenty six hour and seventeen 141 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: minute flight, and Aloha made it after twenty eight hours 142 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 1: in sixteen minutes. The other two that took off successfully, 143 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: Golden Eagle and MS Dorin, disappeared and their crew were 144 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: never found. Irwin and ike Walt repaired their plane, Dallas Spirit, 145 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: and went to assist in the search for the disappeared planes. 146 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: They also disappeared and were never heard from again. Four 147 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: competitors had completed the race, but ten people had died. 148 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: The first trans Pacific flight was completed in ninet and 149 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon flew the first NonStop transpecific 150 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: flight in nineteen thirty one. I'm Eve Jefcote and hopefully 151 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,439 Speaker 1: you know a little more about history today than you 152 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: did yesterday. And if you'd like to follow us on 153 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: social media, you can find us at t D I 154 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: h C Podcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Tune in 155 00:09:53,960 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: tomorrow for Another Day in History. M hmmm. For more 156 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 157 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.