Wiring the Atlantic Ocean

Imagine waiting weeks just to hear news from across the sea. In the early 1800s, sending a letter between North America and Europe meant putting it on a steamship. If a stormy voyage took twelve days, a reply took just as long. People could communicate across land almost instantly using the electric telegraph, but wide oceans remained silent barriers. To connect the two continents, engineers had to solve a daring question: could a wire survive deep underwater across thousands of miles of ocean?

An early attempt in 1858 showed both promise and heartbreak. Workers managed to lay a long wire beneath the waves, and Queen Victoria of Great Britain sent a congratulatory message to United States President James Buchanan. People celebrated in the streets with fireworks. However, the victory was short-lived. The signals grew weaker and weaker until the wire stopped working entirely after only a few weeks. Historians and scientists still debate the exact cause of the breakdown. Some evidence points to manufacturing flaws, while other records suggest that engineers accidentally ruined the wire by sending pulses of electric voltage that were far too high.