Transatlantic telegraph cable

A submarine telegraph cable carrying electrical signals across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America. The first operational cable opened in 1866.

Submarine communications cable: A cable laid on or beneath a body of water to carry communications signals between locations. The transatlantic line was an early long-distance example of this broader technology.
Electric telegraph: A system that transmits coded messages by electrical signals through a wire. The Atlantic cable extended the land telegraph across an ocean.
1858 transatlantic telegraph cable: The first cable to transmit messages across the Atlantic, which operated briefly in 1858 before failing. Its short service exposed the limits of the cable and the equipment then available.
Reuters: A news agency founded in London in 1851 that used telegraph networks to distribute news. Transatlantic telegraph capacity accelerated the exchange of reports between European and American markets.
Charles Wheatstone: An English scientist and inventor whose work included electrical telegraphy and submarine cable engineering. His insulation research and practical advice informed early Atlantic cable projects.
Samuel Morse: An American inventor who developed a practical electric telegraph and the code that bears his name. Morse's telegraph system supplied the signaling method used on the cable.
1866 transatlantic telegraph cable: A durable telegraph cable laid across the Atlantic in 1866, followed by the recovery and completion of another cable. It established reliable, lasting telegraph communication between Europe and North America.
Cable & Wireless: A British telecommunications company formed in 1934 from earlier imperial cable and wireless businesses. Its corporate lineage grew from the undersea cable networks that followed the Atlantic connection.
Gutta-percha: A natural latex material that becomes insulating and water-resistant when cooled. It insulated the cable's copper conductor against seawater.
Frederic Newton Gisborne: A British-born telegraph engineer whose Newfoundland projects helped inspire a transatlantic connection. His plans to link Newfoundland with North America drew Cyrus Field into the Atlantic project.

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