Program Information

The first transatlantic telegraph in 1858 quickly failed, but the prospect of nearly instant intercontinental communication was an idea that would not be allowed to die.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: The first transatlantic telegraph in 1858 quickly failed, but the prospect of nearly instant intercontinental communication was an idea that would not be allowed to die.

Intro: A Moment In Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The problem was primitive technology: cable construction, transmission equipment and laying apparatus. After the brief exchange between Queen Victoria and U.S. President James Buchanan in 1858, massive celebration on both sides of the Atlantic heralded a new day in communications. Well, the new day didn't last very long, 271 messages to be specific, before the 1858 submarine cable sputtered out. Suddenly the temporarily-cowed skeptics were in full cry, and potential investment began to dry up.

But this did not discourage cable advocates Charles Bright, William Thompson, Fleeming Jenkin, and New York businessman Cyrus Field. For them the expeditions of the 1850s served as laboratories from which they learned about the infant science of electricity, submarine cable design, and laying cable. They went back to work, and by 1861 the Atlantic Telegraph Company and the British Board of Trade had produced an analysis of previous failures--as well as a plan that led to success.

By 1865, after a corporate reorganization, a new infusion of cash, significant improvement in cable design and, above all, the purchase of the giant failed passenger liner Great Eastern--the only ship in the world that could carry enough cable for the entire crossing--success came within reach. Then two days out from Newfoundland, however, the cable snapped. A year later Great Eastern was back with a second cable that went the distance. The company found the old one, and in the summer of 1866, two cables were in transatlantic service.

The producer of A Moment In Time is Steve Clark. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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