2-716-534 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The breaking of the Atlantic Cable on board the 'Great Eastern', August 2, 1865', (1901). The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean from Valentia Island in western Ireland to Heart's Content in eastern Newfoundland, Canada. The cable broke several times, but was repaired. The cable reduced the communication time between North America and Europe from ten days - the time it took to deliver a message by ship - to a matter of minutes. From "The Illustrated London News Record of the Glorious Reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901: The Life and Accession of King Edward VII. and the Life of Queen Alexandra". [London, 1901]