Today , we take for grant the ability to send picture halfway around the humanity in an wink . ( Which is credibly why that democratic smartphone exposure service is called inst - g ™ . ) But a century ago , getting a photograph across an ocean was a much more involved appendage than but snap a mirror selfie and bring out it to 3,000 of your closest protagonist .
In the other forenoon of January 24 , 1926 an American oceanliner call the S.S. President Roosevelt was run 200 rider bound for Germany . The Roosevelt receive a distress call in the Atlantic Ocean , and the determination was made to go in search of its lineage . The call was descend from the S.S. Antinoe , a British merchantman ship which had gotten caught up in terrible conditions and was on the verge of drop . The rescue of the bunch need three and a one-half days , and two man died during the effort . But the rest of the gang ( including the captain ) were save , and convey aboard the S.S. President Roosevelt for an their unscheduled roundabout way to Germany .
As it happens , during the rescue someone on the S.S. President Roosevelt snapped a picture of the sinking Antinoe . Soon after , that same image would be seen in newspapers across the United States . But how did the photograph get from the London to New York City before the world of things like artificial satellite , smartphones and transatlantic fiber oculus cables ?
The April 1926 event of Science and Invention helpfully exemplify the process , detail everything involve in acquire that photograph from London to New York City . As you may see from the subtitle in the Laredo Times , the way that the pic made its style across the Atlantic was as notable as the rescue itself . And it owed most of the debt to a monster transatlantic cable television service .
A silent newsreel was also bring out and distributed by Pathe showingfootage of the rescued crewfrom the S.S. Antinoe some metre after the story break in . But those movies were belike delivered around the universe the old fashioned fashion — picture show dupes made by hand and sent by rail or plane rather channelise along the bottom of the ocean .
Today , while the average person may be able to send photograph with the push button of a clit , any exemplification detailing the proficient unconscious process of sharing on Instagram would likely be just as knotty as the one above . It may seem instantaneous to us , but the distributed nature of the internet and the way that packets of information are split up and reassembled would sure enough make for a highly technical picture . Albeit one with fewer magnets .
Photo : The S.S. Antinoe as it appeared in the March 1 , 1926 Laredo Times ( Laredo , Texas )
instance : scan from the April 1926 issue of Science and Invention magazine
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
word from the future , delivered to your present .
