Daily History Challenge · No. 109 · Thursday 15 October 2026 · Chain
Puzzle No. 109: Chain
The anchor was The first transatlantic telegraph cable (1858 CE). Every challenger is listed below with its year.
The anchor
After years of effort led by the American financier Cyrus Field, the first transatlantic telegraph cable was completed on 5 August 1858, and on 16 August Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan exchanged congratulatory messages, the first telegrams ever sent between the continents. That cable failed within weeks after excessive voltage destroyed its insulation, but the demonstration spurred renewed attempts. Using the vast steamship Great Eastern as a cable-layer, engineers landed a durable, reliable cable at Heart's Content, Newfoundland, on 27 July 1866, establishing the first permanent telegraphic link between Europe and North America. News that had taken ten days or more to cross the ocean by ship could now travel in minutes. The achievement, a feat of industrial-age engineering combining mass-produced cable, powerful steamships and advances in electrical science, knit the Atlantic economy together and inaugurated the era of global instantaneous communication, with cables soon extending to India, the Far East and around the world.
The 10 challengers, in order of date
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable
Before The first transatlantic telegraph cable