First transatlantic telegraph cable completed

On this day in US history, after multiple unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean was completed on August 5, 1858. Cyrus West Field conceived the idea of the telegraph cable in 1854 and secured a charter to lay the well-insulated line across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. By 1958, 2,000 miles of cable had been successfully laid at a depth of almost two miles below the surface. It connected from the US to Great Britain. To test the connection, President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria exchanged pleasantries on a call powered by the transatlantic cable.