This article is for quizzes on Thursday September 15th...
A
transatlantic telegraph cable is an
undersea cable running under the
Atlantic Ocean used for
telegraph communications. The first was laid across the floor of the Atlantic from Telegraph Field, Foilhommerum Bay,
Valentia Island in western
Ireland to
Heart's Content in eastern
Newfoundland. The first communications occurred August 16, 1858, reducing the communication time between
North America and
Europe
from ten days – the time it took to deliver a message by ship – to a
much shorter time. Transatlantic telegraph cables have been replaced by
transatlantic telecommunications cables.
On August 16, 1858 the first message sent via the cable, other than
technical messages sent by the electricians setting up the system, was,
"Europe and America are united by telegraphy. Glory to God in the
highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men," sent from England.
Queen Victoria then sent a
telegram of congratulation to President
James Buchanan at his summer residence in the
Bedford Springs Hotel in
Pennsylvania
and expressed a hope that it would prove "an additional link between
the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and
reciprocal esteem." The President responded that, "it is a triumph more
glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by
conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the
blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship
between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine
Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law
throughout the world." The messages were hard to decipher – Queen Victoria's message of 98 words took sixteen hours to send.
These messages engendered an outburst of enthusiasm. The next morning a grand salute of 100 guns resounded in
New York City, the streets were decorated with flags, the bells of the churches were rung, and at night the city was illuminated.
