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The first productive steam engine
Thomas Newcomen invents the first productive steam engine. Newcomen invented the internal-condensing jet and the automatic valve gear to create a vacuum in the cylinder. He stayed within the working limits of his materials by using steam at atmospheric pressure. -
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Industrial Revolution
The industrial Revolution starts in 1750's to the end of World War I (which is 1914). The Industrial Revolution transformed agriculture and handicraft economies into economies based on large-scale industry, mechanised manufacturing, and the factory system. Existing industries became more productive and efficient as new machines, power sources, and work organisation methods were introduced. This timeline will include the events that ultimately led up to the Industrial Revolution. -
Silk throwing
John Lombe opens the first silk throwing factory in Great Britain in Derby. Lombe's Mill was Britain's first successful silk throwing mill. It was constructed on an island in Derby's River Derwent. It was constructed after John Lombe visited Piedmont in 1717 and returned to England with details of the Italian silk throwing machines - the filatoio and the torcitoio - and some Italian artisans. -
The Flying Shuttle!
James Kay invents a simple weaving machine called the Flying Shuttle. Previously, the shuttle was thrown, or passed, through the threads by hand, and large fabrics necessitated two weavers seated side by side, passing the shuttle between them. Kay used paddles to shoot his shuttle from side to side when the weaver jerked a cord and mounted it on wheels in a track. Using the flying shuttle, one weaver could weave fabrics of any width faster than two could previously. -
British victory in the battle of plassey
In 1750, India accounted for nearly a quarter of global GDP. Centuries of prosperity had made it a very wealthy country. Cotton gained popularity in Britain after the formation of the East India Company in 1600, and by 1664, the Company was importing a quarter-million pieces into the country. -
The Spinning Jenny
James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny, which allows workers to produce multiple spools of thread at the same time. The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame that was a key development in the early Industrial Revolution's industrialisation of textile manufacturing. After seeing his wife's spinning wheel knocked over and the spindle continue to spin, James Hargreaves created the spinning jenny. -
Richard Arkwright factory in Cromfort
Richard Arkwright was a savvy businessman, innovator, and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in 18th-century Britain. Small mills and factories were present in Britain as early as 1721, with John Lombe's water-powered silk mill in Derby. Arkwright, on the other hand, is widely regarded as the brains behind the modern factory system. -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney (1765-1825), a native of the United States, patented the cotton gin in 1793, a machine that revolutionised cotton production by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fibre. Cotton had become America's most important export by the mid-nineteenth century. -
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater was born in the English town of Belper, Derbyshire. Samuel Slater, born into a poor farming family, began working at Jedediah Strutt's cotton mill at the age of ten, employing the water frame pioneered by Richard Arkwright. -
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