Episode 37. Transatlantic Telegraph Fire

The Day's Dumpster Fire

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Hey there! Today's episode is going to check all the boxes that go into classifying something as a legit historical dumpster fire. Is there a huge problem? Check. Is there a plan to solve that problem? Check. Does humanity plan out the solution with great detail and expense? Check and Check. When executing that plan, does everything fall apart shortly after? Check. And for a bonus: does everything fall apart over and over and over? Check and Check and Check!
Today, Ed is diving into the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable this is one of the largest and most ambitious engineering feats of the 1800's. Enamored with the massive success of Samuel Morse's telegraph machine and his subsequent Morse Code, both America and England desperately wanted to have a telegraph line that would span the "pond" and connect the two countries. After all, the world already had over 30,000 miles of telegraph wire spread out over Europe and America. These wires were above the ground, under the ground, and even under the water. So how hard can it be to lay down one measly little wire across the Atlantic Ocean?
Well it turns out it's very hard, and when you combine the elements of nature, with the hubris of humanity, you're asking for things to go wrong over and over again!
So sit back and take a listen, because today's episode will make you appreciate your cellphone all that much more.

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