1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, we have very exciting news some of you 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:05,520 Speaker 1: have heard before. We're gonna talk about it again. We 3 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: are going to Paris. We're just gonna keep talking about 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: it NonStop because the excitement level is off the charts. Yes, 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: you can come with us, which is the cool part. Yes, 6 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: there is information on our website. If you go to 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: Mistonhistory dot com and you click on the link in 8 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: the menu at the top of the page that says 9 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: Paris Trip, that's the one it will take you to 10 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: all the info. One thing that we wanted to make 11 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: sure people know is that if you are a solo 12 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: traveler and you're not maybe able to corral friends to 13 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: go with you, do not fret. Please go ahead and 14 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: sign up because there will be lots of solo travelers 15 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: and also we're all one big, happy history family running 16 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: around Paris, so you will have plenty of opportunities to 17 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: socialize if you wish, and then plenty of opportunities to 18 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: go run away by yourself if you need downtime. Yes, 19 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: I know that traveling alone, especially traveling alone to another country, 20 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: can be a little intimidating, but I am a hard 21 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: core supporter of that. It is something I love to 22 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: do myself. So regardless of whether you're traveling with a 23 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: partner or a friend or by yourself, everyone is welcome. Also, 24 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: we've gotten a couple of questions from folks about whether 25 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: people from outside the United States can come on the trip, 26 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: because the wording on the website made it sound as 27 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: though you needed a valid US passport. It is open 28 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 1: to people from other countries as well, and they are 29 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: updating that language on the website and there's contact information 30 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: if you go to our website. We have a link 31 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: to the Defined Destination's website, which is where the trip 32 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: is being coordinated, and there's contact information there and you 33 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: can contact them with any specific questions you have about 34 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: your travel situation. Yeah, so we hope you come with us. 35 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: That's going to be June of this year, twenty nineteen, 36 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: and we're going to have a blast. Uh So, we 37 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: hope we see you in Paris. 38 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from HowStuffWorks 39 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 2: dot com. 40 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson 41 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Fryme. We have kind of an accidental 42 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: theme in the episode that I've researched lately inspired by 43 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: things I read on Twitter, which makes it sound like 44 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: I'm reading Twitter a lot, which is the opposite of true. 45 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: Whenever I open Twitter, I just kind of zoom up 46 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: to the top and look at the three most recent 47 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: things and then go away from that. So I just 48 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: coincidentally have caught various interesting tweets lately. This time it 49 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: was author and science communicator Rosemary Moscow who had a 50 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: Twitter thread about pigeons and how cool they are and 51 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: how they are all over cities because humans put them there, 52 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: so don't be mad at them for it. The pigeons 53 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: didn't do it themselves. And in this thread, one of 54 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: the things she said was Paul Julius Reuter of Reuter's 55 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: used them to carry stock prices. And I replied and said, well, 56 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: now I have to do a podcast on Paul Julius Reuter, 57 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: which is where we are. The man who would later 58 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: become known as Julius Reuter was born Israel Beer Josephat 59 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: on July twenty first, eighteen sixteen. He was born near 60 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: Kassel in the Electorate of Hesskassel, which would later become 61 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: Prussia and is now Germany. His father was Rabbi Samuel 62 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: Lev Josphat, and he was the third of four children. 63 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: When the young Israel was about sixteen, his father died 64 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: and he was sent to live with an uncle in Girtengen, Germany. 65 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: His uncle ran a bank and the plan was for 66 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: Israel to train there and then to enter the finance industry. 67 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: At about the same time, physicist and mathematician Karl Friedrich 68 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: Gauss was also in Gertengen, experimenting with electrical signals and 69 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: telegraph technology. It is not entirely clear how these two met. 70 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: Israel would have been running errands and making deliveries for 71 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: his uncle, so it's possible that he delivered something to 72 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: Gaus and they struck up an acquaintance. Regardless, though Israel 73 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: was fascinated by these experiments, which started in eighteen thirty 74 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty three, Gaus successfully sent a message over 75 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: a wire from his last to an observatory a mile away. 76 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty one, when he was about twenty five, 77 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: Israel started going by a new name, which was Julius. 78 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: It was probably after his birth month of July, and 79 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: in the early eighteen forties he also left the world 80 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: of banking and started working at a publishing house in 81 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: Berlin called Reuter's Publishing Company. In those same years, he 82 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: also met a woman named Ida Maria Elizabeth Clementina Magnus. 83 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: Some sources call her Ida, while others call her Clementina. 84 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: It took me a long time to find her entire 85 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: name written out and figure out what in the world 86 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 1: was going on with that. Clementina was the daughter of 87 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: a Lutheran pastor. There are some sources that describe the 88 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: Magnus family as Jewish, but that seems to be an 89 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:46,919 Speaker 1: incorrect assumption based on the fact that their home was 90 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: in Berlin's Jewish Quarter. That would have been a logical 91 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: place for Julius to stay after arriving in Berlin, though 92 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: so he and Clementina probably meant simply because they were 93 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: living in the same neighborhood. And the timeline on in 94 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: all of this is a little bit fuzzy. It's not 95 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: clear precisely when Julius started going by that name or 96 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: when he met Clementina, but in eighteen forty five, Reuter's 97 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: Publishing House sent Julius to London to try to establish 98 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: a branch there. London had a large enough German speaking 99 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: population that it seemed like there might be a demand 100 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: for German language books, so Julius and Clementina left Germany 101 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: for England by ship, and they departed from Hamburg, but 102 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: before they left they got married in a civil ceremony. 103 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,119 Speaker 1: They arrived in London on October twenty ninth, eighteen forty five, 104 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: and they were listed in the passenger manifest as mister 105 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: and Mistress josephat and they got a room at a 106 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: boarding house and started planning another wedding, this one at 107 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: a Lutheran church, officiated by a pastor. And their reasons 108 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: for doing this are not documented anywhere, but most historians 109 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: conclude that Clementina had gone through the civil wedding back 110 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: in Hamburg so she could travel with Julius without it 111 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: being scandalous or for the sake of her own conscience, 112 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 1: but that she didn't consider herself really married without that 113 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: big church wedding. On November sixth, eighteen forty five, shortly 114 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: before this second wedding, Julius was baptized as a Lutheran, 115 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: and at his baptism he took another name, which was Paul, 116 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: and he also changed his surname from Joseph Fat to 117 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: Reuter once again, there's no documentation of what led him 118 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: to this name change, but it did mean that he 119 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: was Herr Reuter of Reuter's Publishing company as he was 120 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: trying to set up this London based branch of that company. 121 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: Don't really know what his employer thought about the fact 122 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: that he decided to do that. I imagine that opened 123 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: some doors for him that he might not have had 124 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: access to Otherwise, one would think maybe he was just 125 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: being really, really wily in that move. We don't know. 126 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: But the Sunday after the baptism, Julius and Clementina got 127 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: married in the church ceremony. It still actually wasn't a 128 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: very big affair. I referred to it as a big 129 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: church wedding before, but it really wasn't. It was just 130 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: the two of them with witnesses that were providing by 131 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: the church, and then they started trying to build up 132 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: their business and trying to start a family. In eighteen 133 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: forty six they had a daughter named Julie, although unfortunately 134 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: she died while she was still a baby. By all accounts, 135 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: Julius and Clementina were a really striking couple. He was 136 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: short and had very dark hair, and she was very 137 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: tall and blonde, and their marriage wasn't entirely conventional by 138 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: the standards of the day. Clementina was intelligent and educated 139 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: and really dedicated to her husband's success, so rather than 140 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: being mostly a homemaker and a helpmate, she took a 141 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: really active part in all of his various business ventures. Essentially, 142 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: she worked as anything from an unpaid assistant to an 143 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: unpaid partner, depended on exactly what was needed. But in 144 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: spite of Clementina's help, Julius wasn't able to get the 145 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: London branch of Writers publishing company off the ground. It 146 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: seems like there just was not as much demand for 147 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: German books as they had anticipated, so soon the couple 148 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: was back in Germany, living in Berlin, where Julius partnered 149 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: with Yoso's Starguart to form another publishing house called Stargart 150 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: and Reuter. This was once again not one of Julius's 151 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: more successful ventures. Years later, Stargart accused Reuter of disappearing 152 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: from the eighteen forty eight Leipzig book Fair, taking all 153 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: of the money from their sales with him. Reuter didn't 154 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: admit any guilt in all this, but he did offer 155 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: to repay the money, which some people interpreted is basically 156 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: admitting he had done it, while others interpreted it as 157 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: just him wanting the issue to be over with and 158 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: having the money to do it that way. Yeah, that's 159 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: what I call a buy your freedom situation. Yeah, I 160 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: want you to leave me alone about this. Here is 161 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: some dollars. Additionally, Reuter was publishing pamphlets that were for 162 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 1: the time quite radical. They advocated democracy and progressive policies. 163 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,359 Speaker 1: This might not seem at all radical by today's standards, 164 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: but a revolution swept through Germany in eighteen forty eight 165 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: and eighteen forty nine. It was driven by an economic 166 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: depression that included high unemployment and food shortages. Peaceful protests 167 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: failed to bring about any kind of change, and after 168 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: King Louis Philippe was deposed in France, the situation in 169 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: Germany progressed to food riots and other violence. Reuter's pamphlets 170 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: and the demonstrators were on the same side. At first, 171 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: it seemed as though this revolution was going to be successful, 172 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: especially after a number of progressives were installed in the 173 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: German government, but these changes did not last, and soon 174 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,080 Speaker 1: the progressives were once again out of favor. By eighteen 175 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 1: forty nine, Conservatives would be back in control, and all 176 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: of this together led the Reuter's family to leave Germany again. 177 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: They settled, this time in Paris. In Paris, Reuter got 178 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: a job at Avas News Agency, working as a translator. 179 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 1: Avas News Agency was founded by char Louis Avas, who 180 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: was from a Sephardic Jewish family, and the agency translated 181 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: and distributed news articles. They mainly used pigeons to distribute 182 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,240 Speaker 1: their work, although the agency was also starting to experiment 183 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: with the telegraph. This combination of news and pigeons and 184 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: the telegraph would set the stage for Reuter becoming a 185 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: household name in the world of international news, and we 186 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: will get to that. After a sponsor break. In eighteen 187 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,119 Speaker 1: forty nine, Julius and Clementina Reuter combined all their experience 188 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: so far to try producing and distributing their own publication. 189 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: It was essentially a newsletter. It combined stock prices and 190 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 1: news and political goings on, sometimes a little bit gossip. 191 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: But they were once again not really able to get 192 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: this off the ground. They just couldn't get enough subscribers 193 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: to turn a profit. So when collectors came to seize 194 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: their assets in eighteen forty nine, they decided it was 195 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: time to leave Paris. The next stop was Achen, which 196 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: is near the current border between Germany and Belgium. Achen 197 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 1: had come to prominence in the eighth and ninth centuries 198 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: as the home of the Emperor Charlemagne. Later, it had 199 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: become a thrive center of manuscript creation and publishing, and 200 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: it was well situated to be an information hub in 201 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: the geography of the day. It was adjacent to Prussia, Holland, France, 202 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: and Belgium, and that made it an easy connecting point 203 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: for travel, trade, and information. This trend in being sort 204 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: of a connecting point for all these things continued into 205 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century as an international railway line made its 206 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: way through Achen. But then on October first, eighteen forty nine, 207 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: a new telegraph line opened which connected Achen to Berlin. 208 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: There was a separate line across the border in Belgium, 209 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: and that line was the French Belgian line that ran 210 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: from Paris to Brussels, so Achen was on one side 211 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: of this gap in the line. The gap stretched about 212 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: ninety miles or one hundred and forty four kilometers between 213 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: Brussels and Achen, so if somebody bridged that gap, they 214 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: could connect Paris to Berlin along the telegraph line. And 215 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: that's someone or really those someone's were Julius and Clementina Reuter, 216 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: who bridged the gap in the line with pigeons. To 217 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: be clear, they definitely were not the first people ever 218 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,000 Speaker 1: to send messages using pigeons. Pigeons are the oldest domesticated birds, 219 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: and people have been using them for food, companionship, entertainment, 220 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: and carrying messages all over the world for thousands of years. 221 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: Pigeons and doves are in the same family, so some 222 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 1: people note the first documented message sent by pigeon as 223 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: that moment in the biblical Book of Genesis when the 224 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: dove returns to Noah carrying an olive branch after the 225 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: Great Flood. Pigeons were used in ancient Rome to carry 226 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: the results of chariot races, and Genghis Khan had a 227 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: whole network of messenger pigeons. People have been doing this 228 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,839 Speaker 1: for an extremely long time. Yes, pigeons were well established 229 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: as a way to send messages by this point. Reuter 230 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: was just at an ideal spot to make particularly good 231 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: use of them. He established the Institute for the transmission 232 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 1: of telegraph messages in Achan, and on April twenty fourth, 233 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, he signed an agreement with pigeon breeder Heinrich 234 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: Geller for twenty five pigeons also who they rented rooms 235 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,839 Speaker 1: from when they first arrived in Achen, and he may 236 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: have also invested in their business. So homing pigeons only 237 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: fly one route, they fly back home, and in this 238 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: case home was Achen. So this whole setup required there 239 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: to be somebody in Brussels to get the news from 240 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: Paris by telegraph and then transcribe it, load it up 241 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: on the pigeon and let the pigeon go to fly 242 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: back to Achen. Then in Achen somebody had to collect 243 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: the pigeon, retrieve the message, transmit it by telegraph, and 244 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: then load the pigeon up into a special crate and 245 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: take it to the train station to send it back 246 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: to Brussels. So running this operation in Achen required both 247 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: Clementina and Julius, one to run the office while the 248 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: other ran all of the errands, including running those pigeons 249 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: to the train station. It also required an office in 250 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: Brussels with pigeons whose home was there to receive messages 251 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: from Achen. That side of things was run by Prussian 252 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: Army officer Lieutenant Wilhelm Stephen. The train trip between Achen 253 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,960 Speaker 1: and Brussels took about ten hours. By comparison, the average 254 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: flying speed for a homing pigeon as roughly sixty miles 255 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: an hour or nine to six kilometers an hour, so 256 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: a pigeon could fly between Brussels and Achen in about 257 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: an hour and a half. That meant news carried by 258 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: pigeon was much much faster than news that was put 259 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: on the train and sent that way. The train, though, 260 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: was still necessary to get the birds back to their 261 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: starting point. Julius Reuter was thirty four when he started 262 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: this venture, which focused on sending stock prices and other 263 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: financial information. It was known as mister Reuter's Prices, and 264 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: the birds were called the Pigeon Post. It was his 265 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: first overall successful business, although it was really built on 266 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: knowledge he'd been gathering since his teens. He had learned 267 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: about banking from his uncle, about the telegraph from Karl Gauss, 268 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: about pigeons from his work with the Avis News Agency, 269 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: and about writing and publishing from various other jobs along 270 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: the way. Reuter's new business grew pretty quickly. On July 271 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: twenty sixth, eighteen t fifty, a little more than three 272 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: months after they signed their first agreement, another agreement transferred 273 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: all of Hargeller's two hundred pigeons over to Reuter. Reuter's 274 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: success with the pigeon post wasn't just because of the 275 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: ingenuity and hard work that he and Clementina put into 276 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: all of this. Reuter was also starting to show some 277 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: business savvy. In April of eighteen fifty, he got in 278 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: touch with Rothschilds in London to sign an exclusive business 279 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: deal in which Reuter agreed to get London financial information 280 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: only from Rothschilds, while Rothschilds got the Berlin and Vienna 281 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: prices only from Reud, with Reuter otherwise staying off of 282 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: the London market. Today this sort of collusion would be 283 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: somewhere between frowned upon and outright illegal, depending on the 284 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: industry and the location, But at the time it was 285 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: actually pretty normal. Yet it wouldn't necessarily be illegal to 286 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: have the exclusive agreement about who was providing stock prices 287 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: and stuff. But when it came to the and I 288 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: also will not do business in London, I will protect 289 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: your monopoly there like, that's the part that today not 290 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: so much of a good business strategy in terms of 291 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: ethics or the law depending. Reuter only ran this pigeon 292 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: post for about a year. A new branch of the 293 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: telegraph line opened on October second, eighteen fifty connecting Achen 294 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: to the Belgian city of Vervier. The following March, another 295 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: branch of the line connected Vervier to Ostend, and then 296 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: Ostend connected to a Prussian telegraph network that ultimately got 297 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: back to Berlin. So as of March fifteenth, eighteen fifty one, 298 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: there was no longer a gap that needed to be 299 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: closed in the telegraph network. Later that same month, the 300 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: Reuters closed up shop in Achen and they left. And 301 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: this move was another major change for the Reuters. So 302 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: we're going to take another pause here for a quick 303 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: sponsor break. After leaving Achen, Julius and Clementina Reuter went 304 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: to London, and they had been advised to do so 305 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: by Werner von Siemens, founder of the telecommunication company Siemens, 306 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: who had worked on that new telegraph line that ran 307 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: from Achen to Vervier. Siemens later wrote of meeting them 308 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: in Achen. Quote in the course of the construction of 309 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: that line, I made the acquaintance of the owner of 310 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: the pigeon post between Cologne and Brussels, a mister Reuter, 311 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,199 Speaker 1: whose useful and lucrative business was relentlessly ruined by the 312 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: new electric telegraph. When Missus Reuter, who accompanied her husband 313 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 1: on the trip, complained to me about this destruction of 314 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: their business, I advised the payer to go to London 315 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: and to open a telegram agency there, similar to that 316 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: just formed in Berlin by a mister Volfe. And we're 317 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: going to get back to this mister volf a little 318 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: bit later. The Reuters arrived in London in October of 319 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one. They got rooms near the London Stock 320 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: Exchange and they lodged there with a doctor named Herbert Davies. 321 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,880 Speaker 1: Reuter's Telegraphic dispatch office opened its doors on October fourteenth 322 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: at the Royal Exchange Buildings, and they advertised their service 323 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,400 Speaker 1: this way quote. Messages to any part of the continent 324 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: may be sent to this office and will be immediately forwarded. 325 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: Communications from the continent to England may be addressed to 326 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: mister Julius Reuter at Kela or Ostend at first, this 327 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,120 Speaker 1: business in London was really about sending telegrams for business 328 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: and personal use, as well as stock prices and financial news. 329 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't a traditional news service yet, and they weren't 330 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: at all the only telegram service in the area. A 331 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: lot of telegram and message services were all springing up, 332 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: hoping to make money off the ever increasing telegraph lines 333 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: connecting various parts of Europe. One of the articles that 334 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: I read describing this whole thing talked about how before 335 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: the telegraph made the use of pigeons totally unnecessary, and 336 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: there was still a lot of like pigeon use connecting 337 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: various people, like connecting London to the smaller towns and stuff. 338 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: This part of town that they were in. You needed 339 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: an umbrella because there were so many pigeons dropping so 340 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 1: many droppings. Reuter didn't own any of telegraph lines. He 341 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: knew a lot about them, though, and he was very 342 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: good at prioritizing telegraph traffic and building relationships and negotiating 343 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 1: terms for the transmissions that he needed to send and receive. 344 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: Clementina continued to work really closely with him in this business. 345 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: She transcribed, She translated messages coming into and leaving the office. 346 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: Eventually they were making enough money to hire a messenger boy, 347 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: which was eleven year old Fred Griffiths, who would eventually 348 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 1: work his way up to becoming a director in the company. 349 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,400 Speaker 1: Not long after their move to London, Clementina got pregnant 350 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: for the first time that we know about since the 351 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: death of their first child, their daughter, Julie. A son, 352 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: Herbert Reuter, was born on March tenth, eighteen fifty two, 353 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 1: and the Reuters went on to have five more children, 354 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: three daughters and two sons, at the rate of about 355 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,719 Speaker 1: one baby every other year. So there's been some speculation 356 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,200 Speaker 1: that Clementina had trouble getting pregnant or carrying her pregnancies 357 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,959 Speaker 1: to term, and that doctor Davies had helped resolve that problem, 358 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: and that may be true. He did, for sure deliver 359 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: at least some of the children, but he didn't specialize 360 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: in obstetrics, which was still a relatively new field at 361 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: the time. As the telegraph system became increasingly prolific, there 362 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: were more ways for people and businesses to send their 363 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,239 Speaker 1: own telegrams. You didn't have to write your letter and 364 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: mail it to the care of a particular person in 365 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: another city. In order for it then to be transmitted 366 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: from a loan telegraph office that was out there. So 367 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: over time Reuter's service forwarding messages to and from the 368 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 1: continent was not really as necessary anymore. People did, however, 369 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: want the news, and in places that weren't yet connected 370 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: by telegraph, whoever got a story out first was at 371 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: a huge advantage. As more and more of Europe was 372 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: connected by wire, it leveled the playing field. But before 373 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: the first Transatlantic telegraph cable was completed in August of 374 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty eight, speed was still key to making money 375 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: from news come into Europe from North America. The only 376 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: way for news to make its way between North America 377 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: and Europe before that line was complete, which we have 378 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: a whole episode on in the archive, the only way 379 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,360 Speaker 1: to do that was by ship. Most of these ships 380 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: arriving in Europe docked at Cork, but the first place 381 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: that they spotted land was in Crookhaven, about seventy five 382 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,159 Speaker 1: miles or one hundred and twenty kilometers southwest, So it 383 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: took about eight hours for ships to make this last 384 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: leg of the journey from Crookhaven to Cork and then 385 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: dock and then deliver the news that they had on board, 386 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: so Reuter employed small fast boats at crook Haven. Once 387 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,119 Speaker 1: the incoming vessel carrying the news caught sight of shore, 388 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: somewhat aboard, would chuck a dispatch off the side in 389 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: a sealed container. Reuter's smaller ship would retrieve it, take 390 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: it back to shore, and telegraph the dispatch back to London. 391 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:51,959 Speaker 1: And there were ships doing this same thing on the 392 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,959 Speaker 1: other end of the journey at Nova Scotia. It cracks 393 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: me up that this is how people were trying to 394 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,639 Speaker 1: get the story out first, was just by hucking containers 395 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: off the s boats. I mean they were sending pigeons 396 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: with trust. So yeah. So Reuter did know that eventually 397 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: there would be an underwater cable connecting Europe to North America. 398 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: So just like the telegraph had closed the gap and 399 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: made his pigeon post obsolete, at some point, this same 400 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 1: exact thing was going to happen to his whole Krickhaven 401 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,439 Speaker 1: message chucking operation. The same was true anywhere else that 402 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: he was able to get an edge by being faster 403 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: than his competition, so he increasingly turned his eye to 404 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: actually reporting the news instead of just collecting and distributing it. 405 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: He started hiring journalists and editors, and started what we'd 406 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: recognize today as a wire service, a service that gathered 407 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: and reported news and sold it to multiple newspapers. His 408 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: first subscriber was The Morning Advertiser in October eighteen fifty eight. 409 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: By that point, Reuter had been in London for seven 410 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 1: years and had been naturalized as a British citizen the 411 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: year before. Reuter's big break came in eighteen fifty nine 412 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: with a speech made by Napoleon the Third. Napoleon had 413 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: been overheard talking to the Austrian ambassador at a New 414 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: Year's reception, saying something along the lines of saying he 415 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: was sorry the two nations didn't have quite the friendly 416 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,480 Speaker 1: relationship they used to. This made international news because it 417 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: implied that France might be headed toward a war with Austria. 418 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: The following February seventh, Napoleon the Third was scheduled to 419 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: make a speech before the French Parliament, one that world 420 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: leaders suspected would confirm France's intent to go to war. 421 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: Reuter took full advantage of this. He had some of 422 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,360 Speaker 1: his best staff on hand in Paris, and he reserved 423 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,679 Speaker 1: time on a telegraph line to coincide with the scheduled speech, 424 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: and his agent even managed to get a copy of 425 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: the speech ahead of time, under the condition that it 426 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: not be opened until the speech began. Very curious about 427 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,440 Speaker 1: how he did that, but I do not know the answer. 428 00:23:55,560 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: It's basically like embargoes that still happened today. Yes, you 429 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: can have this information, but you can't publish your article 430 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: until a certain time. However, though regardless of by what means, 431 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: they had a copy of the speech when Napoleon did 432 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: start giving it, the French agent started transmitting the speech 433 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: word for word to London, where it appeared in a 434 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: special edition of The Times just a couple of hours 435 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 1: after it had been delivered. The speech did indeed confirm 436 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: that Napoleon would be going to war. This was part 437 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: of what would come to be known as the Second 438 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,919 Speaker 1: Italian War of Independence. Plenty of other papers would report 439 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: on this speech later, but the Times reported it first. 440 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: This also meant that the newspapers that had been like, ah, 441 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: I don't really know why I should sign up for 442 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: this whole Reuter news service, A bunch of them now 443 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: got on board, and then once the war actually started, 444 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: Reuter also had reporters embedded with the troops in Austria, France, 445 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: and Italy. In eighteen sixty five, Reuter was also the 446 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: first in Europe to report the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 447 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: That same year, he established a news office in alex Andrea. 448 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty eight, Britain started nationalizing the telegraph service, 449 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: which really affected Reuter's business and the news industry as 450 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: a whole. Reuter's, the London newspapers, and the regional newspapers 451 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: known as the provincial press worked out kind of a 452 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: complicated pricing scheme among themselves to make up for these 453 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: changes in the telegraph system. In the process, the provincial 454 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: papers formed the Press Association to give themselves collective bargaining 455 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: power with Reuter. They also negotiated a whole deal in 456 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,199 Speaker 1: which Reuter had control of the London news market, but 457 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: the Press Association had exclusive rights to Reuter's news outside 458 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: of London. The Press Association also agreed not to do 459 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: international reporting, leaving that to Reuter's agency, and this also 460 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: contributed to Reuter trying to really diversify the businesses that 461 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 1: he was in in the eighteen eighties and eighteen nineties. 462 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: Because the nationalization of the telegraph and all the changes 463 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,199 Speaker 1: that then trickled down with all of this were eating 464 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,880 Speaker 1: into his profit margin. These kinds of negotiations were also 465 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: happening internationally. By eighteen seventy, three primary wire services were 466 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: reporting the news from three different parts of Europe. Reuter 467 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: was in England, Avas was in France, and Voth who 468 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,440 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, was in Germany, and rather than compete 469 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: with each other, these three businesses got together to protect 470 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: each other's monopolies in different parts of the world. On 471 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: January seventeenth, eighteen seventy, they agreed that Vof would be 472 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: in Germany, Avus would be in France, and Reuter would 473 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,399 Speaker 1: have the entire British Empire, and this agreement was in 474 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: place until nineteen thirty four. Once again, this arrangement today 475 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 1: would probably run a foul of anti trust laws and 476 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,199 Speaker 1: a lot of places, but at the time this was 477 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: not an uncommon way of doing business, and it also 478 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: had parallels to things happening at the same time in 479 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: the more political arena, like the Scramble for Africa, where 480 00:26:54,800 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: countries were basically dividing Africa up amongst themselves. Also, these 481 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: these three services were intrinsically connected to each other. Julius 482 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,879 Speaker 1: Reuter and Bernhard Wolf had both worked as translators for 483 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,399 Speaker 1: the of US agency, which was known in French as 484 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: Agents of Us. In eighteen seventy one, the Duke of 485 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: Saxe Coburg Gotta made Reuter a baron, and Queen Victoria 486 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: later recognized his rank in Britain. In eighteen seventy two, 487 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: Reuters expanded into East Asia. That same year, Julius Reuter 488 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:31,200 Speaker 1: was also temporarily given huge control over multiple industries in Iran, 489 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: which at the time was often also known as Persia. 490 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,360 Speaker 1: Reuter had become friends with the Persian minister in London, 491 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 1: and at the same time the Shah Naser aldin Shah 492 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,639 Speaker 1: Kajar was making a series of concessions to British interests. 493 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: He signed what was known as the Reud Concession, which 494 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: gave Reuter the rights to railways, factories, mining, irrigation and 495 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: telegraphs in Iran. This went really badly. Reuter got into 496 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,720 Speaker 1: this without really going through any British diplomatic channels, and 497 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: British politicians all over the political spectrum tried to distance 498 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 1: themselves from it. An editorial in The Times of London 499 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: said in part quote, there has been nothing like it before. 500 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: The King of Kings abdicated the functions, if not the 501 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: splendor of royalty, and though still gorgeous and glittering, is 502 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: unable to make a road, explore a mine, or irrigate 503 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: the lands under his dominion. So he calls in an 504 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: enterprising financier of the West and offers him many and 505 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: precious advantages if he will relieve the Shah in Shaw 506 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,479 Speaker 1: of the real duties of royalty. Meanwhile, Russia, which had 507 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: been expanding into neighboring parts of the world, saw this 508 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,840 Speaker 1: whole thing as a huge threat and suspected that all 509 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: those British officials who were distancing themselves from what Reuter 510 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: had done were really just trying to cover up their 511 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: own involvement in a British power grab. And the people 512 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: of Iran were outraged the Shaw was making such huge 513 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: concessions to British interests. The Shah reversed the concession after 514 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: about a year, but Reuter still had interests in Iran. 515 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: This revised agreement with the Shaw established an Imperial Bank, 516 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: and his son George became its president. The whole thing 517 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: also set the stage for another concession of tobacco interests 518 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: from Iran to Britain twenty years later, and that led 519 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: to a huge uprising in Iran. The Reuters news organization 520 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: kept expanding over the next decade, becoming known as the 521 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: largest international news service in the world, although it was 522 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: also criticized for unnecessarily graphic coverage, especially during wartime. Here's 523 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: an example from an eighteen eighty three memo to correspondence 524 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: written after Julius Reuter's retirement. Quote. In consequence of the 525 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 1: increased attention paid by press to disaster etc. Of all kinds, 526 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: agents and correspondents are requested to be good enough in 527 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 1: future to notice all occurrences of the sort. The following 528 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: are events that should be comprised on the service. Explosions, floods, inundations, 529 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 1: railway accidents, destructive storms, earthquakes, shipwrecks attended with loss of life, 530 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: accidents to war vessels and to mail steamers, street riots 531 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: of a grave character, disturbances arising from strikes, duels between 532 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: and suicides of persons of note, social or political, and 533 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: murders of a sensational or atrocious character. It is requested 534 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: that the bare facts be first telegraphed with the utmost promptitude, 535 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: and as soon as possible afterwards, a descriptive account proportionate 536 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: to the gravity of the incident, so very long way 537 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: of saying, if it bleeds, it leads, yes, one hundred percent. 538 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 1: Reuter retired in eighteen seventy eight, and his son took 539 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: over the agency, although Julius continued to be involved in 540 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: the business for some time afterward, and by this point 541 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: the Reuter family had become really wealthy. The business also 542 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,239 Speaker 1: continued to try to stay ahead of new technologies that 543 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: became sort of part of its pattern of business. It 544 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: kept adopting faster and better ways of distributing the news 545 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: as these ways were invented, including using column printers, teletypes, radio, 546 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: and satellites. Julius Reuter died at his mansion of Villa 547 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: Reuter in Nice, France, on February twenty fifth, eighteen ninety nine. 548 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: It came across the Reuter's wire quote Baron de Ruter, 549 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: the founder of Reuter's agency, died at Nice this morning 550 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,440 Speaker 1: in his eighty third year. His wife, Clementina died on 551 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: August fifth, nineteen eleven, in London, and not much is 552 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: known about her life between her husband's death and hers 553 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: except that she had an active social life and was 554 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: very good at poker. These are things we know from 555 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 1: her obituary at this point. They also have no living descendants. 556 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: The fourth Baron de Ruyter died in nineteen fifty eight 557 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: and his widow died in two thousand and nine. But 558 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: it's clear that Reuter's could not have become the company 559 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: that it did without her, and without her mostly unpaid work. 560 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: There aren't even any pictures of Clementina in the Reuters archive. 561 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: We do know that she sat for a formal portrait 562 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: at one point, but that portrait now cannot be found. 563 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: I kind of wanted to name this episode after both 564 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: of them, but there just wasn't enough information about her, 565 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: and then that seemed disingenuous. It would be impossible to 566 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 1: tell the entire history of Reuters as a business between 567 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: then and now, but Reuters still exists as an international 568 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: news organization and as a division of Thompson Reuters after 569 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: being acquired by Thompson in two thousand and eight. Ajen 570 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: Avas also became a Jens France Press or AFP. Yeah, 571 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: so two of the three places that had that sort 572 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: of divvying up monopoly still exist in some form today 573 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: as far as I know, Wolf did not it was 574 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: taken over by Nazis, and is I think was later 575 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,320 Speaker 1: has its own decisis. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, It's one of 576 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: those things where you think about, uh, Reuter the man 577 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 1: touched so many things that continued to have echoing after effects. 578 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: I mean, he basically like destabilized huge parts of Iran 579 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: in addition to his savvy in the business world. Yeah, 580 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,840 Speaker 1: creating news agencies. Yeah, and we really didn't get into 581 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: it here, but I read an interesting article preparing for 582 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: this that was about how not just international news agencies, 583 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: but domestic news agencies have a huge effect on culture 584 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:26,120 Speaker 1: and on language because, like, I mean, you and I 585 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 1: for years have used the Associated Press style Guide as 586 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: like that was has been like the go to style 587 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: guide at how stuff works, even though how stuff works 588 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: has never been strictly a news reporting thing, and like 589 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: how these style guides affect what is considered to be 590 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,240 Speaker 1: correct usage and all kinds of contexts even when they're 591 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: not strictly journalism contexts. It was super interesting, but also 592 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: not totally related to Reuter himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's 593 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: at the center of a lot of developments that continue 594 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: to reverberate. Do you have a little bit of listener mail. 595 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: I do have listener mail. This is from Charles and 596 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,840 Speaker 1: Charles says dear Miss Wilson and Ms Fry. I enjoyed 597 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,520 Speaker 1: your two part podcast. That is the two part podcast 598 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: on Sojourner Truth. As you are aware, the role of 599 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: slavery pervaded all of colonial and early federal life. To 600 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: this end, I'm sending a link to a Rutgers University 601 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:25,800 Speaker 1: magazine describing an internal investigation on the role of slavery 602 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,360 Speaker 1: at Queen's College, which became Rutgers College. As expected, slavery 603 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: played a role, as it did in most all early colleges. 604 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,360 Speaker 1: Note the founder's family owned biz truth in her family. 605 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,760 Speaker 1: There is also recognition of the acquisition of Native American lands. 606 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: Although I don't think we will have a Truth and 607 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: Reconciliation Commission in my lifetime, I'm pleased to see some 608 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,319 Speaker 1: organizations are performing these discomforting activities on their own. Your 609 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 1: work also helps make us address these truths. Kind regards Charles, 610 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: and he has a link to this article. Thank you 611 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: Charles for sending this email. I did not know that 612 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,720 Speaker 1: there was any connection between the university and Sojourner Truth, 613 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 1: but I looked into it, and that is absolutely correct. 614 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: The Hardenberg family who had been Sojourner Truth and her 615 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: parents like that whole family. I knew that they were 616 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,320 Speaker 1: a very big slave owning family in that part of 617 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: New York. I had no idea that they were among 618 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: the founders of that university. So thank you so much 619 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 1: for sending us this, this email and this link. Charles. 620 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:27,759 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 621 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,879 Speaker 1: or any other podcasts, we're at history Podcasts at HowStuffWorks 622 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: dot com. We are also all over social media at 623 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: missed in History. You can come to our website, which 624 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,840 Speaker 1: is missed inhistory dot com, where you'll find a searchable 625 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: archive of all our episodes ever as well as the 626 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 1: show notes, which are the sources for all the episodes 627 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,160 Speaker 1: that Holly and I have worked on together. And you 628 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, 629 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 1: and wherever else you get your podcasts. 630 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,759 Speaker 2: For more on this and thousands of other topics, houstuffworks 631 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 2: dot com. 632 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:06,800 Speaker 1: M