Today's story is about the first time in human history that two continents could talk to each other in minutes instead of weeks, and you're about to find out how badly, and how many times, it all went wrong before it went right. The laying of the first ever Transatlantic Cable is a story meant for Hollywood! This one has everything - betrayal, suspense, big ships, and snapping cables that plunge down to the bottom of the ocean. You'll want to stick around to see how this one ends.

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00:00 Intro

03:14 1: Cyrus West Field, Fredrick Gisborne, and the globe in his library

07:06 2: The Cable Cabinet Committee in 1856

08:44 3: Transatlantic Cable first attempt (August 1857)

10:10 4: Transatlantic Cable second attempt (June 1858)

12:00 5: Transatlantic Cable third attempt (July 1858)

13:25 6: Celebration that burned down New York's City Hall

14:57 7: Wildman Whitehouse cranks up the voltage

17:47 8: 1861 plan stop due to the civil war

18:55 9: Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Great Eastern

21:35 10: Mystery spikes found inside the transatlantic cable

23:55 11: Transatlantic cable snaps again and is lost in the ocean

25:06 12: Cyrus Field gets redemption, final connection is made

26:15 13: Retrieval of the lost Transatlantic Cable

28:06 14: Outro

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