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Mark Twain's "From The 'London Times' in 1904"

An 1898 short story in which a condemned man is saved by a video call

Mark Twain's "From The 'London Times' in 1904"

Twain wrote it in 1898 and set it six years ahead. A man is condemned for a murder he did not commit, and what saves him is the telelectroscope: live pictures and sound carried over the telephone network, letting anyone look in on anywhere. Twain did not invent the device — he borrowed it from what Jan Szczepanik was then promising. The full text is free on Gutenberg.

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