1746 about two hundred monks each held a twenty five foot wire and connected them. This connection of wires became a catalyst to what we now know as the internet. Inspired by the monk experiment which proved the power of electricity, many scientists there after tried their luck at creating an electric signaling system, and some succeeded at producing different designs of the telegraph. Through these different modifications of the telegraph we now have one of the most important innovations of this time the internet, whose roots can be argued to originate from the telegraph. Through the Victorian Internet one learns that one small idea can expand into a larger idea or a web of ideas. When one finally produces their idea they may be surprised to find that their original plans for the use of the product may change when it is put on the market. People can come up with the brightest ideas sometimes without trying, and a lot of times inventions are made as solutions to common problems. There are also innovations, which are not original inventions, but one person takes another’s invention and makes changes to it with the hopes of making it better. The experiment with the monks in Paris of 1746 proved that electricity could travel long distances in a short period of time. After these findings it became evident that a device that used electricity to send signals would be more efficient than their present system of transmitting signals. This was indeed the first step in creating the telegraph. While Nollets intentions were to research electricity, others wanted to invent a signaling system that used electricity. Claude Chappe was an example of a planned invention. His first experiment was with two casserole dishes, which lead him to his later design of the telegraph. After seeing the growth of the telegraph by the mid 1830’s many more inventors and scientists tried to construct improved models of the telegraph. They wanted to change the shutter design, or the code book, and others wanted to create an entirely new system. This outgrowth of new ideas shows that when one person invents something it will stimulate the thought s of others. Some of these scientists may have seen the potential to make money, while others may have seen a way to improve the society that they lived in by making the telegraph faster and cheaper. No matter what their motives were, they believed it was worthy of their time and money to change the original design. Francois Ronald’s also used clocks and dials, but his clocks had dials that would show one letter at a time. While most of the innovators of the telegraph made it their goal to change Chappe’s design, others stumbled upon it. Morse came up with the idea of the electric telegraph while having dinner with Dr. Charles Jackson, where they talked about electromagnetism. Morse was uninformed that there were so many others already experimenting with the electric telegraph. During the dinner Morse said, “I see no reason why intelligence might not be instantaneously transmitted by electricity to the distance.” This shows how this was a happenstance, because he was not interested in the telegraph prior to his conversation with Dr. Jackson. Morse came up with one of the most popular codes of the telegraph, which was known as the Morse Code. As the telegraph became more widely used, there became new ways to use the telegraph. When Chappe created the first optical telegraph he intended for it to be used to transmit commodity prices between Paris and Amsterdam, Cardiz and London. He also expected the telegraph to transmit the news within the states. Cooke thought it could be used by the government to local authorities and sending troops, stocks and to let individuals know when they had a sick family member. Morse thought that the telegraph would prevent war, because the governments could communicate with each other, and it would help to imprison criminals.
Despite these individuals’ ideas of how their inventions should be used, people found different ways to use it. It was used by the news when Queen Victoria gave birth to her son, Alfred Emest. The telegraph industry was rapidly growing and was used by businesses, police, governments, railroad companies, and bankers. The telegraph replaced the Pony Express, because the messages could be sent in minutes instead of days. Criminals used codes to win bets at the horse track, and it was used when Francois and Joseph Blanc bribed telegraph operators to make errors in the transmission of stock market information so they could see how the stocks were performing in Paris. The telegraph was also responsible for some people finding love as operators would talk across the lines and then start relationships with one another. In one case a couple was able to perform their wedding over the telegraph. The many functions of the telegraph can be paralleled to the telegraph. The internet like the telegraph has become a very important, quick way of communicating, and a source for information. Like the telegraph which was used to transmit stocks prices and indicate the ups and downs of the stock. Those who invest in stocks can look on websites such as yahoo to answer the question of “How’s the market?” The internet like the telegraph provides a way to instantaneously send messages to family and friends through emails, instant messages, and social networking. Just as abbreviations were created to decrease the amount of words in telegrams, we use abbreviations over the internet such as LOL or “Laugh out loud.” The internet, like the telegraph system, is made up of networks from all over the world that are connected to each other.