1819-1892

American financier best known for sponsoring the laying of the first telegraphic cable across the Atlantic Ocean. After a number of failed attempts, Field arranged for Queen Victoria to send the first transatlantic message to President James Buchanan in August 1858. The cable broke three weeks later. It took eight more years for Field to finally complete his project, when in 1866 a single ship laid out 2,700 miles of telegraphic cable that stretched from Newfoundland to Ireland.