The trans-atlantic telegraph joined england and the united states by wire.
a. true
b. false

Strange as it may seem, that's true. 

In 1858, ships carrying enormous rolls of cable finished laying
a cable under the sea, across the north Atlantic between the US
and England, making it possible for the first time to communicate
between North America and Europe faster than ships could make
the crossing. 

That was only 20 years after the telegraph was first demonstrated
in New Jersey, through 2 miles of wire. 

At the time the trans-Atlantic cable was completed, telegraph was
the only means of long-distance communication in existence. 
None of these things had been invented yet:

-- telephone
-- radio
-- TV
-- sound recording
-- loudspeakers
-- ear buds
-- cars
-- airplanes
-- satellites .