115 Years Ago: The First Transatlantic Radio Bridge

It is considered one of the most important technical achievements in communication, one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century. In bad weather and under adverse circumstances, at 12.30 p.m. local time, Guglielmo Marconi waited in a disused fever and diphtheria hospital for a message from the ether. The facility in St. Johns, Newfoundland, was quickly converted into a receiving station located on a hill that had the almost prophetic name "Signal Hill".

Over 3500 kilometers away, in a specially designed radio system in Poldhu, UK, employees of the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Co. set out to send a short message across the Atlantic for the first time - without a cable connection, directly via the recently discovered radio transmission. In fact, Marconi, who can only receive but not send himself, notes three short clicks - the letter S from the Morse code. Marconi marks this historic event in his diary: it is the first time that a signal has been successfully sent across the Atlantic without cables.

It was a long way to go. On September 4, 1837, the American engineer Samuel Morse successfully demonstrated for the first time how messages in the form of coded signals can be transmitted over wire lines. The telegraph and the Morse alphabet named after it brought the world closer together: messages that previously took several weeks could now be transmitted within hours.

When Werner von Siemens developed the gutta-percha press ten years later, with which cables could be insulated and thus also used under water, the countries of the world were able to communicate directly with each other across the oceans for the first time. On July 28, 1866, the first transatlantic telegraph line finally went into operation.

Communication technology companies around the world were established in a very short space of time. Telegraphy brought the world closer together. However, the wired technology also had disadvantages: Places in an impassable location to which no cables could be laid - for example in the mountains or away from major traffic routes - remained cut off from communications. And ships, which were often in the Atlantic and Pacific for days or even weeks, were virtually blind throughout the entire time of their crossing, as far as receiving or sending messages was concerned.

Content of the article:

• Page 1: 115 years ago: The first transatlantic radio bridge
• Page 2: From copper cable to electromagnetic wave
• Page 3: Pioneering achievement or self-deception?

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