The fascinating and complicated story of how the first transatlantic cable was laid
800In the modern world, we take the privilege of having instantaneous intercontinental communications for granted. It’s easy to forget about all the past efforts, precursor technologies, and the visionaries behind them. Today, we’re here to tell you the transatlantic cable story.
You might be wondering, “What is the transatlantic cable anyway?” to explore that, we need a bit more context. In the olden days, pretty much the only near-instantaneous long-distance communications we had was the telegraph, which was invented by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse code believed that these telegraph communications could be implemented as an overseas communication solution. And in 1850, a cable for such a purpose was laid between France and Great Britain.
Who invented the transatlantic cable? Well, multiple engineers worked in different parts of the process but one name pops up as the man behind the idea. Enter Frederic Newton Gisbourne, the man who laid the first transatlantic cable. His first undersea cable attempt was a relative success, but it didn’t bring much profit, so his company succumbed. Sometime later, a businessman, Cyrus West Field, took notice of the idea. With his funding, an oceanographer, Samuel Morse, and governments of the U.K. and the U.S. the intercontinental cable was once again back on track.
When was the first transatlantic cable laid, you might ask. The first attempt was in 1857. How did it go? You have to watch the video to get a grasp of that.
To get the latest science and technology news, subscribe to our newsletter “The Blueprint” at https://bit.ly/3BDdN5e
#engineering #transatlanticcable