ABSTRACT
Two hundred years ago communications were at the speed of the horse and sailing ship, a slowness that fashioned many historical events. British and American armies would fight the Battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815, ignorant that the Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas eve 1814, ending the US-British 'War of 181 2', for only on 13 February would the news reach the Americas by sailing ship. Two hundred years later communications are instantaneous as telephones and satellites link every part of the globe.
