what does transhistorical connections mean?

Answer 1

I'm not familar with the term, but perhaps it refers to apparently unconnected items in history that actually have a cause and effect relationship. Such as the invention of the Jacquard Loom in the late 1700s having a direct impact on lifting computer technology from mere computation to the millions of applications we use it for today.

As a result of the Industrial Revolution and the creation of automated processes, such as mechanical looms and weaving machines, plain fabrics could be mass-produced at a much greater rate and lower cost than in the past.1 Unfortunately, anything other than extremely simple patterns could still only be generated by skill workers at a great expense.

Joseph Jacquard recognized that weaving, although an intricate and delicate task, was highly repetitive task.4 He believed that the weaving of complex patterns could be automated just the manufacturing of simple patterns had. He conceived a system that relied on stiff, pasteboard cards with various patterns of punched holes. At each throw of the shuttle a card was placed in the path of the rods. The pattern of holes in the card determined which rods could pass through4 and thus acted as a program for the loom. This control system allowed for flexibiliy and various levels of complexity in the patterns.

Those pasteboard cards were later used as punch cards for the pioneering programers to use as an interface.

There are other such connections such as Racism in Professional baseball in the 1950s and rise of Castro in Cuba. Or a bet about horse racing leading to the invention of Motion Pictures.

Answer 2

Those who are connected via their history.