Documents in Year 1856                     

Links of Interest:

• Franklin Pierce, Fourteenth U.S. President

(1853-1857)

• Transatlantic Cable

The steamer Propontis successfully lays cable across the Cabot Strait and the Newfoundland line is completed; now the telegraph has been extended one-third of the distance between New York and Europe. Field returns to England to raise more money.

• Steel - produced by forcing air through iron

The Bessemer Converter was invented in 1856, and became the heart of steel production for nearly 120 years.