No. 5 (2026): Issue № 5

On the Cover – Laying of a telegraph cable across the English Channel in 1851
Source: Figuier L. Les merveilles de la science ou Description populaire des inventions modernes. Paris: Furne, Jouvet et C., 1868, 703 p.
175 years ago, after several unsuccessful attempts, an underwater cable was laid between Dover (England) and Calais (France). The cable was gutta-percha insulated and protected from external influences by steel wire. Before diving into the sea, the cable from the ship's hold was fed to two pulleys and then made several turns around a wooden drum with a diameter of 10 m.