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Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull was responsible for creating a device that would aid many farmers in the Industrial Revolution- the seed drill. The seed drill deposited seed in rows rather than the farmers having to scatter the seeds all over the land. Tull also created other things, such as a horse-drawn hoe for clearing weeds. These inventions introduced by Tull helped to create a strong foundation in modern agriculture. -
Abraham Darby
Abraham Darby contributed to the revolution by creating a method of producing iron. Darby used coal to smelt the iron, which separated the iron from its ore. This method allowed Darby to produce iron that was of better quality and also less expensive. His son and grandson continued to improve on his method in the years to pass. This also helped when people started building railroads later in the revolution. -
Thomas Newcomen
Thomas Newcomen was the inventor of the first steam engine. The first engine he produced was used in a coalmine in 1712. It worked all day and night, but proved to be inefficient. They were also very expensive, but were successful as there were already 100 of his steam engines before he died in 1729. -
John Kay
John Kay created the flying shuttle, which helped to speed up the process of handloom weaving. Rather than using both hands to pass the yarn, Kay's invention allowed for the user to use only one hand to do the process at a much faster rate. This allowed cloth to be produced at much faster speeds, which helped it to be manufactured faster. -
Richard Arkwright
Richard Arkwright contributed greatly to the Industrial Revolution through his invention of the waterframe. The waterframe allowed the process of spinning to be sped up through water power. Arkwright also develpoed many mills that allowed yarn to be produced more efficiently and increase profits also. Arkwright was very successful through his inventions, but unfortunately, lost his rights for the waterframe, allowing textile mills to become more abundant. -
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a british economist, and also the author of The Wealth of Nations. In his book he said that the free market should be allowed to regulate business activity. Smith also tried to prove that supply and demand were linked to manufacturing, trade, wages, profits, and economic growth, Smith's ideas of the free market and the law of supply and demand helped to shape the economies in the 1800s and 1900s. -
Samuel Crompton
Samuel Crompton was a british inventor who is known for his creation of the spinning mule. The spinning mule allowed high quality thread and yarn to be manufactured. Crompton's inspiration came from the spinning jenny he would work on as a child, which he thought could be better improved. As a result, he combined Arkwright's and Hargreave's ideas to create his invention that would revolutionize the industry all around the world. -
Nicolas LeBlanc
Nicolas LeBlanc was a French chemist and also surgeon who is known for manufacturing soda ash from sodium chloride. This was important for manufacturing at the time because soda ash was used in making paper, glass, soap, and porcelain. The process in which the salt was treated with the soda ash is known as the LeBlanc process after its inventor. -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney respectively had the largest impact on the Industrial Revolution with his invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin greatly reduced the amount of time people had to separate the cotton pieces by hand, doing the day's work that many men could do. After Whitney's demonstration of the cotton gin, many copies were made of his machine that would help manufacture cotton in a much more efficient fashion. -
Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Volta was a physicist in the electricity field. His most famous invention is the first battery, which became a major success around the world. It was praised so highly that Napoleon presented Volta with a gold metal along with prize money. Volta's discovery would change modern science and technology forever. -
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was known for creating the first railway line to use steam locomotives. He constructed his first locomotive in 1814 near Newcastle. In 1815, he also invented a safety lamp that was used in coalmines. His son also helped him to build these railways, and eventually became a railway engineer also. -
Cyrus Field
Cyrus Field, along with the help of others, created the first transatlantic cable. For about a year, Field attempted many times to get the cable to work, but too often fell short. The cable would often snap when it was 100 to 200 miles from shore. Finally, Field got the cable to work and there was much celebration in New York.