CABLE

Before I get into this, I feel like I should inform my younger readers that I'm talking about telegraph communications - this cable is not the one that brings you television pictures.  

You see, it took two weeks to get a message from Europe to the Americas at the time of the War of 1812.  The war was over two weeks before the warriors knew it.  People died who shouldn't have.  Something had to be done. We had telegraph wires strung across our country but nothing between continents.  

The first attempt at a Transatlantic Cable, laid on the floor of the ocean, began in 1857; before our Civil War.  The first really successful cable was strung in 1866.  The distance across the Atlantic from the US to Europe is about 1700 miles.  Ships pulled, laid and spliced the large cable.  In twenty years, there were 107,000 miles of cables strung under the ocean connecting all parts of the world.  It was not until the 1960s, that our communications satellites offered a better way to communicate between continents.  

And now, pull the cell phone out of your purse or pocket and press a button.  Absolutely amazing!  You may be cutting the cable at your home but it once was the device that brought countries together and saved lives in World War I and II.  

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