"The Proposal/ The Night Was Alive"

The first telegraph message sent in the United States was "What hath god wrought" because everyone was like how can you send a message instantaneously through the air. It was like God territory.
-Martin Moran, Harold Bride

I'm sure for Harold Bride it must have been thrilling to be part of this pioneering profession of wireless telegraphy. Harold Bride was born in Kent and he was young man when he found his way to Titanic.

The wireless operators were among the most celebrated heroes of the disaster because they stayed at their post wiring other ships to come to the Titanic's aid. And this was the first use of SOS as a cry for help.

It's interesting to note that the wireless operators didn't work for the Titanic. They worked for Marconi- the genious noble winning physicist that designed this wireless. So they were leased to the ship. The way they made their money was by sending messages for the rich people on the boat.
--Martin Moran, Harold Bride


Harold Bride was really the first computer nerd. If you want to call him that. This was a man, a very young man who had lived his life in a very introverted fashion, very shy, didn't work well with groups. Hardly left his home. But try to imagine a man in 1912, in that situation who can take his finger on this little machine and press it down on a telegraph key and it could be heard in Calcutta. It's the first world wide web, the first chat room.
--Maury Yeston


The whole thing was a phenomenon. It's still mysterious, kind of spiritual or mystical. That this electricity got through the air and people didn't understand it. Captain Smith says "I'll never understand the damn thing".
--Martin Moran, Harold Bride

If I have a favorite musical moment in the show it would probably be the duet between Barrett and Bride and it's the moment when Mr. Barrett is dictating his proposal of marriage to his girlfriend. And he sings "I'll be coming back to Darlene, back to your dark eyes and hair"... Finally the two voices soar as Mr. Barrett continues his proposal of marriage and Mr. Bride continues really his love song to the Marconi Machine.
--Maury Yeston



When I found Marconi's telegraph my life came alive because I was hearing the night come alive with a thousand voices--fighting to be heard and every one of those voices is connected to me. And he suddenly felt part of the world. A part of something that was bigger than him.
--Martin Moran, Harold Bride

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