The transatlantic telegraph cable was the first cable that stretched across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, connecting North America and Europe.  The cable went from eastern Newfoundland to western Ireland.  This enabled messages to be sent across the ocean in a matter of minutes, a great improvement to the weeks that a ship may take.  There were many attempts to lay the cable, but the first telegraph sent across the ocean was in 1858, when Queen Victoria sent a congratulatory message to President James Buchanan.  This particular cable was short-lived though.  The next month, the cable was destroyed when Wildman Whiteman used excessive voltage to try to make the telegraph operation faster.  But you can’t really blame Wildman Whiteman.  You have to blame the guy that thought it would be a good idea for a guy named “Wildman” to use something nice.