Transatlantic Telegraph Cable - First Contact

First Contact

On August 16, 1858 the first message sent via the cable was, "Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men." Queen Victoria then sent a telegram of congratulation to President James Buchanan and expressed a hope that it would prove "an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem." The President responded that, "it is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world." The messages were hard to decipher – Queen Victoria's message of 98 words took sixteen hours to send.

These messages engendered an outburst of enthusiasm. The next morning a grand salute of 100 guns resounded in New York City, the streets were decorated with flags, the bells of the churches were rung, and at night the city was illuminated. The Atlantic cable was a theme for innumerable sermons and a prodigious quantity of doggerel.