"In the end, all it took to break the impasse was a few copper wires, laid across the Gulf of Mexico to a high-energy physics lab just outside of Chicago, in 1991."
replyMake it make sense. Either in how Chicago is close to the Gulf, Brazil is on the Gulf, or in 1991 having a working wire thousands of miles long qualifies as a throwaway "all it took."
Deliberate understatement is sometimes deployed for humorous intent.
replyWhich sometimes works.
replyBut maybe not in the case of "all it took to get the internet connected was connecting the internet."