I think that you are mistaken on the subject of the "first international telegraph cable" since cables had already been laid between counties in Europe, e.g. France and the UK, Belgium and the UK, and various Scandinavian countries.geron wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:55 amTo fly off on yet another tangent, another museum in England that you might enjoy is the global telecoms museum in Porthcurno, Cornwall,rode_kater wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 7:48 am Bletchley Park was cool and it's nice to see all the stuff in context, but the NMoC next-door (which it didn't realise existed until I saw the sign) blew my mind. If you have any interest in the history of computers it's absolutely worth a visit.
https://pkporthcurno.com/
This occupies the site where the first international telegraph cable -- to India -- was brought ashore in 1870, predating both the telephone and radio communications. By the outbreak of war in 1939 it was the terminus for 14 undersea cables -- and today there are also six optical fibre cables for digital communications. A few weeks ago I visited the museum (skirted, of course, so you have a precedent) with my wife, and we both found it absolutely riveting.
The first intercontinental cable (that carried messages successfully) was that laid across the Atlantic in 1857, from Newfoundland (then a self-governing British colony, now part of Canada) to Valentia (then part of the United Kingdom, now in the Republic of Ireland). However this cable did not last for long. See https://atlantic-cable.com/Cableships/GreatEastern/
A second but unsuccessful attempt was made in 1865. See https://atlantic-cable.com/Article/Gooch/index.html
The first transatlantic cable that proved durable, and carried regular communications was laid in 1866 (and the previous failed cable of 1865 was also recovered, repaired and put back into service). See https://atlantic-cable.com/CableCos/Ang ... /index.htm
The whole subject of these cables is fascinating, and the technological spin-offs are still of the greatest importance. A researcher who has devoted himself to the whole subject is Dr Donard de Cogan, and it's worth searching for his papers on the net and in print.