1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, one hundred and sixty five years ago today, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,800 Speaker 1: Cruiz finished laying the first transatlantic telegraph cable and then 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: the first successful communication was sent along that cable a 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: few days later. So we are replaying our episode on 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,600 Speaker 1: the first transatlantic cable today. This originally came out on 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: November ninth, twenty sixteen. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed 7 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome 8 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy D. Wilson, 9 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: and today we are listening to a topic that we 10 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: have gotten a number of requests for. One of them 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: that sticks in my mind is a request from our listener, Jeff. 12 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: But basically, the eighteen thirties and the eighteen forties were 13 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: a really exciting time for communication throughout the world. Sign 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: Tists and inventors were experimenting with telegraphy in some form 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: or another, and the world sort of stood on this 16 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: threshold of information flow. And once the ability to reach 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: one another through mechanical means started to become a reality. 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: Of course, as we know living in the digital age now, 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: that information flow quickly became a full on jet. But 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: it really was like a pretty speedy transition even then. 21 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: But to get to that initial point where things really 22 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: started to be global, it took almost two decades to 23 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: get a message sent across the Atlantic Ocean by telegraph. 24 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: That's from the time the idea was adopted as the 25 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: next logical step for global communication to when they actually 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: got a line completed and working. And this is sort 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: of a story of inspiration and daring, but above all, 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: the real story here is tenacity. As you will see 29 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: our story of the Transatlantic Cable. Unsurprisingly, we'll start with 30 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: Samuel Morse, who was credited with the invention of the 31 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: telegraph and his original career trajectory. If you're not familiar 32 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: with it, might surprise you a little bit. I suddenly 33 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: was so. Samuel F. B. Morsh was born on April 34 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: twenty seventh of seventeen ninety one to parents Jedediah and 35 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Finley Morse, and as a student both at Phillips 36 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: Academy and then at Yale College, his performance was pretty 37 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: middling in all subjects except for art, which he loved. 38 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: He was not really aspiring to be an engineer or 39 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: an inventor at this point. He wanted to become a 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: painter when he got out of college. That was not 41 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: a particularly lucrative career plan. After an apprenticeship to a 42 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: Boston publisher, it was a parent that art really was 43 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: the only thing that he was interested in, so his 44 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: father sent him to England to study at the Royal Academy, 45 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: where he developed his style in the Romantic tradition. So, 46 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: after studying in England, he returned to Boston in eighteen 47 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: fifteen and he set up a studio there where he 48 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: continued to paint these large, epic pieces that were really 49 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: well regarded, but they weren't very lucrative. Everybody, but he 50 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: loved to look at them and talked about how good 51 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: they were, but nobody was buying them. So a few 52 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: years into his art career, he married a woman named 53 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,760 Speaker 1: Lucretia Walker. This was in eighteen eighteen, and at this 54 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: point he realized he had to make ends meet and 55 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: provide for his bride and they were having a family, 56 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: so he began taking commissions to paint portraits, often traveling 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: to do so. Seven years into the marriage, Lucretia died 58 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: after giving birth to the couple's third child, and Samuel 59 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: was away on a painting job. When this happened, he 60 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: was so devastated that he wasn't able to make it 61 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: home in time for her burial, and this was just 62 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: the beginning of a series of heartaches for him. His 63 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: father died the following year, and then his mother passed 64 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: away a few years after that. So eventually Morse decided 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: to travel to Europe in eighteen twenty nine for a 66 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,839 Speaker 1: three year trip that was intended to help him move 67 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: through his grief. This also proved to be a pivotal 68 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: move because on the return voyage. Once he had done 69 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: this traveling, he met physician and some time inventor and 70 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: a great potential podcast subject, Charles Thomas Jackson. So, according 71 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: to the story, Jackson and Morse discussed the possibilities of 72 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: the transmission of messages via electrical current, and Morse came 73 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: away from this discussion very inspired. After making some quick 74 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: initial sketches for a machine and then spending several years 75 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: studying the electric relay work of scientist Joseph Henry, Morse 76 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: started building a telegraph prototype. As has been the case 77 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: with many inventions we've talked about in the podcast, Morse's 78 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: telegraph did not just appear in a vacuum. Not only 79 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: was he building on the work of others, but there 80 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: are also numerous other inventors who were working on similar 81 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: concepts of the time, with all of them basically driven 82 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: by a goal of improved communication for humankind. Yeah, it's 83 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: important to remember that if you wanted to communicate something 84 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic Ocean, which was a frequent destination, like 85 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: people in the state, we're often sending things back to 86 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: Europe and vice versa, the fastest you could expect a 87 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: letter to reach someone was like a week, and that 88 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: was a really fast instance thinking about all the various 89 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: things we've talked about over the past years of the show, 90 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: where problems would have been completely prevented if it didn't 91 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: take weeks for a letter to get anywhere. Yeah. Yeah, 92 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: So this was sort of on a lot of people's 93 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: minds that they were like, man, if only I could 94 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: get communication to go faster. So that's why many people 95 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: were working on this, And so from eighteen thirty eight 96 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: to eighteen forty two, Morse and a partner named Alfred 97 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: Vale worked on getting funding to finish the development of 98 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: the telegraph machine and to develop the communication system that 99 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: would eventually be known as Morse Code, and a Congressman 100 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: from Maine named Francis ormand Jonathan Smith eventually backed the pair, 101 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,559 Speaker 1: and he helped them get a congressional grant of thirty 102 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: thousand dollars to run a telegraph line from the US 103 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: Capitol in Washington, d C. To Baltimore, Maryland that was 104 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: a span of thirty eight miles about sixty one kilometers. 105 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: Their proof of concept demonstration for Congress had been a 106 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: line strung between committee rooms in the Capitol that relaid 107 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: several messages back and forth. Even as the line from 108 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: Washington's of Baltimore was being laid, they were already using it. 109 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: They would sort of put out a stretch and then 110 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: attach a machine to it and use it. And on 111 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: May first of eighteen forty four, it had reached within 112 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: fifteen miles of Baltimore, and the line we was used 113 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: to transmit Whig Convention nominees to Morse in Washington, DC 114 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: to announce the word via a telegraph line got to 115 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: DC more than an hour faster than the train from 116 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: Baltimore that was carrying the news. Yeah, that was kind 117 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: of a big moment where people were like, this is 118 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: viable this is really going to happen. And on May 119 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: twenty fourth of eighteen forty four, the first telegraph on 120 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: the newly completed d C Baltimore line. So there had 121 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: been some going on before, but the completed line, the 122 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: first note was sent by Morse and it read what 123 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: hath God Wrought? Once this message had actually been sent, 124 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: it led to a period of explosive growth in communications. 125 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: There were also multiple challenges to his patent on it, 126 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: which he was granted in eighteen forty seven, but ultimately 127 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: he was recognized as the inventor of the telegraph. Yeah, 128 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: just as with any big invention we've talked about, there 129 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: were a lot of people who wanted to say no, no, 130 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: I was part of that development. I was an important, 131 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: important part of it, including the general fer Art on 132 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: this machine. Yeah, including the gentleman that he had talked 133 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: with while he was returning from Europe, Charles Thomas Jackson. Again, 134 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: that would be a whole great episode in and of itself, 135 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: but over the following decade after they finished that that 136 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: line between the Capitol and Baltimore more than twenty thousand miles, 137 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: that's thirty two thousand kilometers roughly of telegraph line was 138 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: laid in the US, and in Europe a similar set 139 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: of criss crossing lines were being laid throughout the continent, 140 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: connecting people like never before. Seriously, I I want to 141 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: make sure people grasp what a huge moment this was. 142 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: It's kind of like how we went from regular kind 143 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: of clunky cell phones to smartphones and sort of everything changed. 144 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: In terms of trying to give a contemporary example, it 145 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: was that big of a jump. As quickly as telegraph 146 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: lines were spreading, ideas for new ways to extend and 147 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: push the technology were also spreading, and it wasn't long 148 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: before the idea of sending telegraphs across large bodies of 149 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: water took root in the minds of people who were 150 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: you thinking about advancements. While a so called Siberian telegraph 151 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: line was also considered considered because it would require fewer 152 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: dips into the water, a transatlantic cable was deemed to 153 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: be more viable because it would need to travel a 154 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: shorter distance. Yeah, it also wouldn't have to deal quite 155 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: so much with cold. But of course a line across 156 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: or more accurately under the water posed a number of challenges. 157 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: It had to be strong and resilient and it had 158 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: to be in But of course there were also industrious 159 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: types who were completely ready and willing to rise to 160 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: such challenges. But before we start talking about them and 161 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,839 Speaker 1: the herculean efforts that were made to install this cable 162 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic, let's pause for a moment and have 163 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: a word from one of our sponsors in the United States. 164 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: Cyrus Westfield, was the driving force behind the idea to 165 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: run a cable under the Atlantic, and he started championing 166 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: this idea in eighteen fifty four. Field was a financier 167 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: from Stockbridge, Massachusetts who had made his money in the 168 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,079 Speaker 1: paper business, which truck cracks me up a little bit 169 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: because you know that might affect his own financial interests 170 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: before putting his efforts into submarines telegraph. And this would 171 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: not be the first line that was dropped underwater. A 172 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: link between Great Britain and France was completed at the 173 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: begin in the eighteen fifties that went through the English Channel, 174 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: but this was obviously a far more ambitious thing than 175 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: any linking line that had existed up to that point, 176 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: and there were other underwater lines as well, but again 177 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: much shorter under the entire ocean. Field gathered information from 178 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: a variety of sources in this whole plan. He spoke 179 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: extensively with Frederick Newton Gisborne, who had run a line 180 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: from Nova Scotia to the tip of Newfoundland before his 181 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: company collapsed. He talked to an oceanographer named Matthew Maury 182 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: to try to gain insight into issues like currents and 183 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: the shifting of the steafloor, and he referred to Samuel 184 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: Morse to make sure that the technical requirements for this 185 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: line would be adequately addressed. Morris had also run some 186 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 1: underwater lines in the New York Harbor, so he had 187 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: some insights into the actual running of submarine cables. Cyrus 188 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: Field formed the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company 189 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: to manage this venture, but he didn't stay independent. Didn't 190 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: stay that company that eventually rolled up under a parent 191 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: company that he helped form called the Atlantic Telegraph Company, 192 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: and Feeled at that point entered into a partnership with 193 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: three British men as they established that firm. That was 194 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: Charles Bright and then John and Jacob Brett, two brothers, 195 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: and that happened in eighteen fifty six. The Brett brothers 196 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: had already run that line that connected Britain and France 197 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: across the English Channel under the umbrella of the General 198 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: Oceanic and Submarine Telegraph Company, so they had some pretty 199 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: good experience to start with. The partnership began with three 200 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand British pounds in capital. Field's own 201 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: money made up about a quarter of that startup capital, 202 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: and then the company was able to get a charter 203 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: to run an insulated line of cable across the Atlantic. 204 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: The British government also paid an annual subsidy to the 205 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: project of fourteen hundred pounds per year. So first the 206 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: cable that they needed had to be manufactured, and that 207 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: was a process which basically took the entire first half 208 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifty seven. It was made by two different companies, 209 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: Glass Elliot and Company of Greenwich and RS. Newele and 210 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: Company of Liverpool. And this cable was made using seven 211 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: twenty two gauge copper wires which were twisted together and 212 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: then they were coded with latex, and that latex shrouded 213 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: line was then wrapped in tarred hemp, and then that 214 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: was coated with an iron wire casing that was made 215 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 1: from eighteen strands of wire, each made with seven charcoal 216 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: annealed iron wires that were twenty two gauge, So it 217 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: was a lot of wrapped in coiled wire making up 218 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: one big cable. The cable, once it was all assembled, 219 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: was approximately three quarters of an inch in diameter, and 220 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: a mile of cable required one hundred and thirty three 221 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: miles of wire to make it. It weighed about a 222 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: ton per mile of length. Yeah, that is not not 223 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: light business. And in the meantime, the Atlantic Telegraph Company, 224 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: while that cable was being made, had been drumming up 225 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: aid from both the US and British navies for this project. 226 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,559 Speaker 1: So the US Navy had already compiled a survey of 227 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,640 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean between Newfoundland and Ireland that identified the 228 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: most suitable route for the cable to sit. And once 229 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: the cable was completed in the two locations by those 230 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: two companies, it was placed aboard two ships. The Niagara 231 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 1: from the US collected the cable that had been manufactured 232 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: in Liverpool, and the HMS Agamemnon of Great Britain took 233 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: on the cable that had been manufactured in Greenwich. The 234 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: initial run set out from the most westerly point of 235 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: Ireland the first week of August eighteen fifty seven, after 236 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 1: the European end of the cable was brought ashore. First 237 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: the Niagara would lay down its cargo of cable, which 238 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: would take it to the mid Atlantic, and then the 239 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: cable aboard the Agamemnod would be spliced to that and 240 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: would be dropped for the rest of the distance to 241 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: North America. And things went pretty well for almost a week, 242 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 1: but after six days there was an error handling the 243 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: breaking mechanism that controlled the cable's speed of descent into 244 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: the water, so the line snapped less than four hundred 245 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: miles or about six hundred and forty four kilometers into 246 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: the trip, and they tried with like grappling mechanisms to 247 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: try to grab it again, but they just could not, 248 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: so the Niagara and the Agamemnon returned to port. Additional 249 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 1: cable had to be made up for the lengths of 250 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: line that were lost to the bottom of the sea. 251 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: The second attempt started with the same two vessels, but 252 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: this time, instead of both setting out in the same direction, 253 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: they met in the mid Atlantic and then spliced the 254 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: ends of the cables from each ship together and then 255 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: the ships set out in separate directions like some kind 256 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: of math problem. Unsurprisingly to me, the line broke almost 257 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: as soon as the two ships started moving. That just 258 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: seems like the worst, worst possible plan. Well, that's eventually 259 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: how it happens, so don't get too judging. I'm to say. 260 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: It seems like this is rife. It seems like a 261 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: big gambol. Yeah, but they had done some testing in 262 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: smaller bodies of water while they were having that extra 263 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: cable made, and it seemed like this was probably good work. 264 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: So a third attempt was started right away, again, beginning 265 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: with a joint of the two lines before each of 266 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: the ships set out, and with only forty miles about 267 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: sixty four kilometers of cable in place, there was yet 268 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: another snap. They tried a third time, and this yielded 269 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: better results. They did manage to put down one hundred 270 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: and forty six miles about two hundred and thirty five 271 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: kilometers worth of line before there was another break, And 272 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: each time they would grapple and try to get those ends. 273 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: But at some point you had to cut your losses 274 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: and say let's go back to port and reformulate our plan. 275 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: At this point. I feel like the Transatlantic cable had 276 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: burned down, fell over, and then sank it to the swap. 277 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: That's pretty much how it feels. I would have given 278 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: up at this point, but remember they're so deep in. 279 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: Four efforts gone bad was a setback. I'm sure plenty 280 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: of other people were like me judging their failures, but 281 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: it did not stop the project. Money was short, however, 282 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: and these numerous failed attempts had already cost about three 283 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: hundred thousand pounds, so new shares of the Atlantic Telegraph 284 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: Company had to be offered for sale at twenty pounds 285 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: each to try to build up the company coffers. And 286 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: they did. They made some money and were ready to go. 287 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: So the Agamemnon and the Niagara set sale for the 288 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: rendezvous point in the mid Atlantic once again on June 289 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: tenth of eighteen fifty eight, after they had been restocked 290 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: with cable and machinery, but this time a storm quickly 291 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: derailed their plans. The Niagara managed the weather without too 292 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: much trouble, but the Agamemnon really really suffered. According to accounts, 293 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: it almost capsized. It lost some of the coal that 294 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: it was using for fuel as it was being tossed 295 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: around at sea, and while the two vessels did manage 296 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: to meet and start their cable laying mission, things quickly failed. 297 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: Not only did the cable snap, but the Agamemnon had 298 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: to use sail power to try to return to the 299 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: rendezvous point. But the Niagara at that point had returned 300 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: to Ireland as had been in the plan in the 301 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: event that the two ships lost communication, so eventually the 302 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: Agamemnon also made it back to port on July twe 303 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: wealth and the next two weeks were spent repairing and 304 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: were stocking and resetting the ships. Four vessels met in 305 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean on July twenty ninth, eighteen fifty eight, 306 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: to try yet again. The ships were the Agamemnon, the Valorous, 307 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: the Niagara, and the Gorgon, with the Agamemnon and the 308 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: Valarus aimed at Ireland and the Niagara and the Gorgon 309 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: headed toward Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. The four vessels started laying cable, 310 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: and this time they managed to connect the line short 311 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: shore all the way across the Atlantic, so apparently they 312 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: just needed two more ships additionally, well, they I think 313 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 1: those may have even been on a prior attempt but 314 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 1: I wasn't clear on that. In my research, they're kind 315 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: of left out of a lot of the talk because 316 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: they were kind of just support vessels at that point. 317 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: They were still doing basically the same plan with two 318 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: ships running line, and then they had some support in case, 319 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: I presume, but they did manage to get it stretched across, 320 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: and that cable was completed on August fifth, when the 321 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: Agamemnon reached Ireland. That was one day after the Niagara 322 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: had brought the North American end of the cable to 323 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: Trinity Bay. And all told, at this point the line 324 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,639 Speaker 1: ran more than two thousand miles that's about thirty two 325 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers across the ocean floor, and once it was 326 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: connected to the local telegraph stations, it worked. On August sixteenth, 327 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty eight, the first telegraph cable to cross the 328 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: Atlantic was sent and it read directors of Atlantic Telegraph Company, 329 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,919 Speaker 1: Great Britain to directors in America. Europe and America are 330 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: united by telegraph, Glory to God in the highest on Earth, 331 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: Peace and goodwill towards men. And then that same message 332 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: was relayed back across the Atlantic to confirm that the 333 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: line was working in both directions success for right now, 334 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: We're going to revel in this success for just a moment, 335 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: and what we do, we're going to have a quick 336 00:18:45,480 --> 00:19:00,160 Speaker 1: word from one of our sponsors. So after that initial success, 337 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan were then able to 338 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: trade messages on this newly laid line, and the British 339 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,880 Speaker 1: monarch cabled on August seventeenth the following message. The Queen 340 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: desires to congratulate the President upon the successful completion of 341 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: this great international work in which the Queen has taken 342 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,160 Speaker 1: the greatest interest. The Queen is convinced that the President 343 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: will join her in fervently hoping that the electric cable 344 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: which now connects Great Britain with the United States, will 345 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: provide an additional link between the two nations, whose friendship 346 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: is founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem. The 347 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: Queen has much pleasure in thus directly communicating with the 348 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: President and in renewing to him her best wishes for 349 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: the prosperity of the United States. Buchanan replied, the President 350 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 1: cordially reciprocates the congratulations of her Majesty the Queen on 351 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: the success of this great international enterprise. Accomplished by the science, skill, 352 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: and indomitable energy of the two countries. It is a 353 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,239 Speaker 1: triumph more glorious because far more useful to mankind than 354 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 1: ever one by conqueror on the field of battle. May 355 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to 356 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the 357 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: kindred nations, and an instrument designed by Divine Providence to 358 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world. In 359 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,360 Speaker 1: this view, we will not all the nations of Christendom 360 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,360 Speaker 1: spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be forever neutral, 361 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: and that its communications shall be held sacred in passing 362 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: to the place of their destination, even in the midst 363 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: of hostilities. So you may have noticed these are wordy telegraphs. 364 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: They're real wordies. They're talkie talkie, and apparently they were 365 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: quite vexing to the telegraph operators. And because of the 366 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: lengthy nature of these messages, they each took more than 367 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: seventeen hours to transmit. Don't talk so much, you God. 368 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: It's like I get it. You want to convey a 369 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: lot of stuff. Transmission received, Stop works stop. This is awesome. 370 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: This excitement was really fleeting because the line had problems 371 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: almost immediately. There are two primary reasons that were discussed 372 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: for the failure. One was that the cable just was 373 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 1: not strong enough, and the initial messages had been sent 374 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: with too high a voltage that taxi line, so in 375 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: addition to being so long, they were also damaging. As 376 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: for the voltage, this was largely due to the fact 377 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,160 Speaker 1: that operators on either side of the Atlantic were fiddling 378 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: with the settings, trying to figure out how to optimize 379 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: the signal, but neither knew what the person on the 380 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: other end was doing. As for the weakness of the cable, 381 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: there were some claims that one of the cable manufacturers 382 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: had left a section of the cable outside in the 383 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: hot sun before it was delivered to the ships, and 384 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: that some of the latex had melted and ruined the insulation. Yeah, 385 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: so it could also have been a combination of those things. 386 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: It could also have just been this. This is difficult. 387 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,919 Speaker 1: In my head, there's a little cartoon where like a 388 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: crab or a lobster just walks up and kind of 389 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: gnaws on it, and I know it's made to not 390 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,479 Speaker 1: let that happen. But the cartoon is very cute. I 391 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: was thinking a shark because I've seen jaws. So the 392 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: first transatlantic telegraph line was unfortunately completely dead within just 393 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: a few weeks. It finally went silent on September eighteenth 394 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifty eight. But even with that failure, some 395 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 1: really impressive work had been done in the time that 396 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: the cable was functional. Over the course of those twenty 397 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,120 Speaker 1: three days, two hundred and seventy one messages had been 398 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: sent from Newfoundland and one hundred and twenty nine messages 399 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: had been sent from Ireland. Undaunted with this at this 400 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: point just unending list of setbacks, Cyrus Westfield decided to 401 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: try again. I have to commend him. He had to 402 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: start the entire process from scratch, starting all the way 403 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: back at the stage of raising the money to fund 404 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: the venture for a sixth try. It took more than 405 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: seven years to have another attempt ready, but in eighteen 406 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 1: sixty five they were ready to go, and this time 407 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: it was a single ship, the Great Eastern, out of Britain, 408 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: that was chartered to lay the line so low. The 409 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: Great Eastern was larger than all of the previous vessels 410 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,439 Speaker 1: that had been used to lay telegraph line, and it 411 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: started in Ireland and headed west toward North America. So 412 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: they're still planning on this same exact positioning. And at 413 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: about the twelve hundred mile that's nineteen thirty one kilometers 414 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred and thirty one kilometer mark, it happened again 415 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: the thing that keeps happening in all of these field attempts. 416 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 1: The cable snapped. So at this point every effort was 417 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: made to recover the dropped end of the line, because 418 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: at that point they're already more than halfway there. But 419 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: eventually they had to abandon it for the time being, 420 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: and the Great Eastern returned to Port. More cable had 421 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: to be made before another attempt could be mounted, but 422 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,199 Speaker 1: finally the Great Eastern was loaded with enough cable to 423 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: cross the ocean, as well as additional cable to splice 424 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 1: the lost end if it could be bound and complete 425 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: a second line. Okay, brace, because this eighteen sixty six 426 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 1: voyage and laying of the line was shockingly smooth. It 427 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: went just fine. The end of the cable which connected 428 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: Newfoundland to Ireland reached a fishing village named Heart's Content 429 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: on the North American coast on July twenty seventh of 430 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six. If I had been the person at 431 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: the helm of that ship, and also everyone else working 432 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: on the entire thing, I would have been like, am 433 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: I awake right now? I feel like I would have 434 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: held my breath for like a month at a time 435 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: as they crossed the coach. So this time, the first 436 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: message to be sent was quote, a treaty of peace 437 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: has been signed between Austria and Prussia. It's a whole 438 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: lot shorter. Queen Victoria also sent a message to President 439 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 1: Andrew Johnson saying, the Queen congratulates the President on the 440 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: successful completion of an undertaking which she hopes may serve 441 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: as an additional bond of union between the United States 442 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: and England. So a lot more concise than previously. Yeah, 443 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: which is kind of funny because this line was a 444 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: little bit better and stronger, and it probably could have 445 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 1: handled those longer messages much more effectively, but lesson learned. 446 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: So this was the first permanent line across the ocean, 447 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: and buoyed by the success of that first line, the 448 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 1: Grade Eastern did head back to find the lost line 449 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,679 Speaker 1: from its earlier mission, and they did manage to locate it, 450 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: even though it had sunk sixteen thousand feet that's about 451 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: four eight hundred and seventy seven meters to the ocean floor, 452 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: and that line was grappled, pulled up, and it was spliced, 453 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: and a backup line was also successfully completed on September eighth. 454 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: Also amazing, the telegraph cable was made available to customers 455 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,439 Speaker 1: right away, but it was really a service for the 456 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: incredibly wealthy. To send a transatlantic telegraph cost a dollar 457 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,040 Speaker 1: per letter, payable in gold. That would be a lot 458 00:25:57,119 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: today dollar a letter. So in eighteen sixty six, that 459 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: was an incredible amount of money. Yeah, that was like 460 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: mind blowingly costly. But keep in mind that like part 461 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: of what was driving all of these attempts. One, it's 462 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,640 Speaker 1: like this sort of human kind, like let's all communicate 463 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: with each other, global village ideal. But it was also 464 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: a business venture. So part of what gave them that tenacity, 465 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,199 Speaker 1: I think was that they were all in and they 466 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: were like, if we ever want to make money off 467 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: this thing, if we ever want to make our money back, 468 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,680 Speaker 1: we got to finish it. Uh, and that's going to 469 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,159 Speaker 1: be really expensive. But they did go into business and 470 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: did quite well more under sea lines were laid in 471 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: the two decades following that first permanent cable, with an 472 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: estimated one hundred and seven thousand miles that's one hundred 473 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: and seventy two thousand kilometers of cable along the bottoms 474 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: of the world's oceans by the late eighteen eighties, so 475 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 1: just twenty years later, it was everywhere. And the lifespan 476 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: of those first two cables was not especially long. I 477 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: mean it was a lot longer than that first successful attempt. 478 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: One of them failed in eighteen teen seventy two and 479 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: the other in eighteen seventy seven, so one lasted for 480 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: six years and the other for eleven. But by that 481 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,360 Speaker 1: point this failure was no longer an issue because there 482 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: was a lot of redundancy in the system by that 483 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: point thanks to other faster cables that were running along 484 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: the same lines. So global communication network basically established. I mean, 485 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: there were lots of other places that needed to be connected, 486 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: but there was no longer an ocean that needed to 487 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 1: be crossed. Yeah, I mean, they were connecting across oceans 488 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: pretty much all over the place. Just pretty amazing, and 489 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: those lines weren't used for a long time. It really 490 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,439 Speaker 1: wasn't until you know, into the nineteen hundreds when there 491 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: were viable other options, So very cool. Thanks so much 492 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,679 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. 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