Newfoundland's geographic position as North America's nearest landfall to Europe has given it a prominent role in the fields of transportation and communications. Since its discovery by John Cabot in 1497, Newfoundland has been the guardian or sentinel of the North American continent. During the period from the mid-1800s to the late 1990s Newfoundland was part of the first transatlantic telegraph cable, the first transatlantic radio message, and in 1991 the first optical fibre cable connected the island with Nova Scotia.