Transatlantic Cable Strander in Henry Ford Museum during Building Construction, July 1932

This cable machine helped to "wire the world." It was used in Greenwich, England in 1865 to prepare the second transatlantic cable. A core of iron and copper was protected from abrasion on the ocean floor with layers of steel, gutta-percha, and jute. These submarine cables--like modern-day fiber-optic cables that carry the signals of Internet traffic--connected cultures and communities.