The telegraph revolutionized society by separating communication from transportation . Before its invention, messages could only travel as fast as a horse or ship; afterward, information moved nearly instantaneously .
Beyond this specific gaming reference, the telegraph was the first electrical telecommunications system , developed in the 1830s and 1840s to send encoded messages over long distances. The Impact of the Telegraph 08 – Telegraph
The first successful transatlantic cable was laid in 1866, connecting North America and Europe and plunging message delivery times from weeks to minutes. Key Technological Milestones The system relied on several breakthrough innovations: History of the U.S. Telegraph Industry - EH.net 08 – Telegraph