The wealthy businessmen and fellow New Yorkers who financed Cyrus Field's vision of a submarine cable across the Atlantic and served as the board of the company.
Driven to succeed yet patient in times of failure, Cyrus Field kept the cable project going for twelve long years, crossing the Atlantic more than 30 times.
Gutta-percha, a natural plastic extracted from trees in Southeast Asia, sparked a craze in Victorian England, leading to its use in everything from golf balls to ear trumpets.
In June 1792, Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous experiments with electricity.
