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Rev. William Lee invents the Stocking Frame
It was used traditionally for Framework knitting, and it was the first major stage in the mechanisation of the textile industry. -
Period: to
The Industrial Revolution
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Languedoc Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay
The largest canal project between Roman times and the nineteenth century -
Jethro Tull's mechanical (seed) sower
permits large-scale planting in rows, for easier cultivation between the rows -
Abraham Darby uses coke to smelt iron ore
replacing wood and charcoal as fuel -
Thomas Newcomen builds first commercially successful steam engine.
Able to keep deep coal mines clear of water. First significant power source other than wind and water. -
John Kay's flying shuttle.
an improvement to looms that enabled the weaver to weave faster -
First threshing machine.
allowed for the seperation of grain from stalks and husks -
James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens.
Barges carry coal from Worsley to Manchester. -
James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny
automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth) -
Arkwright's "water" (powered) frame
automates the weft -
Bridgewater Canal extended to the Mersey, thus connecting with Liverpool.
Its success kicks off extensive canal construction ("canal mania"). -
Watt's first efficient steam engine
Much more efficient than the Newcomen. -
Grand Trunk Canal establishes a cross-England route
Connecting the Mersey to the Trent and connecting the industrial Midlands to the ports of Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull. -
First steam powered mills.
Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process. -
Arkwright puts a Watt engine in the Albion cotton mill, Blackfriars Bridge, London.
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Cartwright builds a power loom.
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Thames-Severn Canal links the Thames to the Bristol Channel.
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William Murdock (James Watt's assistant) lights his home with coal gas.
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Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton).
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Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys.
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Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive.
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Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys.
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Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen.
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Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat.
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Luddite riots
laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them. -
Luddite riots
laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them. -
Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation
The principle of the electric motor. -
Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen.
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Marc Brunel invents a tunnelling shield
Making subaqueous tunnelling possible -
Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames.
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Berkeley Ship Canal connects Sharpness (on the Severn) to Gloucester.
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The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins
first regular commercial rail service -
Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current,
making possible generators and electric engines. -
Charles Babbage develops his analytic engine--the forerunner of the computer. Fox Talbot produces photographs.
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Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code. Great Western--first ocean-going steamship.
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Daguerre perfects the Daguerrotype.
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Fox Talbot introduces photographic paper.
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Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames.
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Great Britain--first large, iron, screw-propelled steamship.
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Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).
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Pneumatic tire patented First telegraph cable laid under the Channel.
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Monier develops reinforced concrete.
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Petrol (gasoline) refining first used. Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford.
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Singer invents first practical sewing machine. Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge.
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Bessemer invents steel converter.
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Regius Chair of Technology founded at Edinburgh.
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W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes
permitting brightly colored cottons -
Pasteur experiments with fermentation.
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First Trans-Atlantic Cable completedCathode rays discovered.
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Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania. Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine.
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Science degrees at University of London.
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Siemens-Martin open hearth process (along with the Bessemer converter) makes steel available in bulk
Steel begins to replace iron in building: steel framing and reinforced concrete make possible "curtain-wall" architecture--i.e., the skyscraper. -
Alfred Nobel produces dynamite
the first high explosive which can be safely handled. -
Christopher Sholes invents the Remington typewriter. James Clerk Maxwell states the laws of electro-magnetic radiation
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Bell invents the telephone.
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Edison invents the phonograph.
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Microphone invented.
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Edison invents the incandescent lamp.
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First skyscraper (ten stories) in Chicago. The Brooklyn Bridge opens.
This large suspension bridge, built by the Roeblings (father and son), is a triumph of engineering. -
Maxim invents the machine gun
making possible mass slaughter and beginning the mechanization of warfare. -
Benz develops first automobile to run on internal- combustion engine.
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Hertz produces radio waves.
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Eiffel Tower.
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Rudolf Diesel invents his namesake.
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Lumière brothers develop Cinematograph. Roentgen discovers X-rays.
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Marconi patents wireless telegraph.
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Joseph Thomson discovers particles smaller than atoms.
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Aspirin invented.
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First Zeppelin built.
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Marconi transmits first trans-Atlantic radio message (from Cape Cod).
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Wright brothers make first powered flight.
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Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T.