The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable Was a Bold, Beautiful Failure
The 1858 attempt to connect British North America and Ireland via the first transatlantic cable was a historic milestone that ultimately failed due to technical disagreements. While Cyrus W. Field and the Atlantic Telegraph Company succeeded in exchanging messages between Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan, the cable's design flaws caused it to break down quickly. This heroic failure, driven by conflicting theories from Samuel Morse and William Thomson, laid the essential groundwork for a successful connection just eight years later.
The queen's 98-word greeting of goodwill took almost 16 hours to send through the 3,200-kilometer cable.
- slg
I highly recommend Jon Bois' Youtube docuseries[1] on this story that's basically a 4-hour PowerPoint presentation which frames this all through the metaphor of the 90s Tim Allen sitcom Home Improvement. That descriptor probably sounds insane to anyone not familiar with his work, but Bois is one of a kind with what he does and I thought this series was one of his best.
- walrus01
History of submarine telegraph:
- jefflinwood
I just finished reading this book, which came out this year.
Lightning Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age
by James M. Tabor (Author)
About this telegraph cable, and all of the different attempts to lay it on the sea floor.
I also recommend The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage (1998) if you want to learn more about telegraphs.