If we were to plot the time it would take one country to communicate a message to another country over the course of history on a graph, what would it look like?

by buddythebear

So here's what I mean: Right now, if President Obama wants to send a message to Moscow, he can do so instantaneously. In the immediate years prior to the advent of the Moscow-Washington hotline in 1963, it would have taken approximately six hours to deliver.

Before the advent of telephones, telegraphs and planes, I assume the President would have had to send a delegation across the Atlantic and then have them take trains/carriages to Moscow. I imagine that would take at least a couple weeks.

So, with some rough approximation in mind of the physical distance and geographic boundaries between to hypothetical nations, how long did it take for diplomatic messages to be transmitted throughout history?

sunagainstgold

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