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Gas lighting
The invention of gas lighting was a benefit to factory owners which meant they could run their factories 24/6. This meant profits and production were increased, but workers ended up fatigued and accordingly were more likely to injure themselves while working. -
Rotherham Plough
The Rotherham Plough was one of the first inventions to occur during the early phase of the Industrial Revolution. The Rotherham Plough made ploughing easier and also more efficient. The Rotherham plough was one of the first inventions to make some farming jobs redundant, like the Spinning Jenny, which meant more people started to move to the city looking for work. -
James Watt's steam engine
James Watt's steam engine revolutionised the way people worked. The steam engine used the idea of steam turning a piston which then turns a cylinder, and that creates movement. Steam engines were used to power machines meaning less human or horse power was needed. Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel used steam power in the trains that he designed and built. Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel -
Seven Year war ends
The Seven Year War led to increased British territory land holdings in North America and parts of the Caribbean. This meant an increase in goods for trading and that led to better economic times for Britain. The war also meant the England and its colonies were in significant debt because of the cost of supporting the army and navy to fight. -
United States Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence meant self rule for America by defeating the British who were controlling the country. Other events in the world such as the Irish potato famine, led to increased migration to America, which helped start its nationhood. The Declaration also started the decline in England's control of territories around the world. This also meant that England had less places to send convicts and had to find new lands, like Australia. -
Four crop yearly rotation
Charles 'Turnip' Townsend invented the four crop yearly rotation system. The four crop yearly rotation consisted of growing nitrogen based plants in the field to keep the nitrogen rich nutrients in the soil. This led to better quality crops. This made the previous 3 crop yearly rotation system obsolete as it was inefficient as it took longer to return the nutrients to the soil. -
The Spinning Jenny
The Spinning Jenny was the name of a machine invented to spin cotton and other threads to make material. This machine made it easier and cheaper to weave cloth than a human. The Spinning Jenny was one of the earliest inventions in the industrial revolution (1760-1914). It replaced many humans jobs and that led to unemployment or migration to cities for work. -
French Revolution ends
The French Revolution was a pivotal moment in France. The poorer classes of France revolted to overturn the rich and the king as they wanted equality. It also sparked other countries to consider, and some were successful, in becoming republics with socialist ideologies. The British upper class were worried that similar events might occur in Britain and they could be overthrown and a republic created. -
The Combination Act part 1
The Combination Act was passed by the UK parliament in 1799. The Combination Act prohibited workers to be belong to a union because the upper, ruling class considered unionised membership as a threat and that lower class people were unworthy of a collective union voice. In 1800 an amendment was made to the Act which increased the severity of punishment for those found guilty of being in a union. Such a person could be transported to a colony, like Australia. -
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a factory owner during the early 1800's. He believed that factory workers that were happy, were more productive than unhappy workers. This was unusual for the time. Robert Owen decided to test this idea by giving workers healthcare benefits, free education to children, and banned those under the age of ten from working in factories. These ideas are common place in Australia today, and some of the world, but were unheard at the time he brought his ideas in. -
Utopia
Robert Owen wasn't just a factory owner. He was a philosopher because he devised an ageless idea of a world where there was no world hunger, disease or war. This was a contemporary, extreme set of ideas. It was an early idea of what a Utopia (a perfect world) could be. Robert Owen's utopia became a reality when he implemented ideas to make workers happy by treating them fairly and worked to the bone. -
Luddite Movement
The Luddite Movement occurred when workers smashed machines that they viewed as taking away their jobs. Workers were angry about the loss of their jobs to machines. The movement was supposedly named after Ned Ludd who destroyed two stocking machines in a factory. The Luddite Movement didn't last long as the punishments were severe with death or transportation to a penal colony like Australia. -
Puffing Billy steam engine
The Puffing Billy steam engine was a very important invention to the world of transport and travelling. The Puffing Billy was the first steam locomotive. This enabled people and goods to be transported by steam locomotive with relative ease. It brought towns 'closer' and goods could be traded more quickly and easily. People could move between places for business and leisure. It changed the transport ways forever. -
Combination Act part 2
In 1824, the Act was amended again due to the over powering voice of the working class to allow for unions to be recognised and allowed to operate. The 1824 amendment let trade unions exist, however, unions were heavily restricted in membership. By late 1824 the Act was abolished as very unpopular. However, in 1825, there was a failed attempt to reintroduce similar legislation but it failed as it was still considered very unpopular in its ideas. -
Factory Act 1833
In 1833, the UK Parliament passed the Factory Act. This Act meant that children under the age of 9 could not work. Also, children under 13 could not work more than 9 hour days. Children under 18 could not work more than 12 hour days. The Act also prohibited children from working at night. The Act required factory inspectors factories, however, out of the whole UK there were only 4 inspectors which meant factory owners could often not be caught for breaking the law. -
Railway mania
Railway mania ran throughout the 1840s. The railway boom started after the government in the UK passed laws making the locomotive transportation industry more competitive by letting more companies set up more networks. Towards the end of the decade, the bubble of started to deflate and in 1849 it popped amid allegations of fraud. In 1850 a Royal Commission was set up to investigate the racket. The image depicts a cartoon illustrating the reasons for the Royal Commission. -
Great Famine in Ireland ended
The Great Potato famine in Ireland caused mass deaths. Approximately 1 million people died. There was mass migration to England and the United States of America, as the farms were devastated and people wanted to eat and work. It was harder for Irish people to find jobs in England. The Industrial Revolution, a housing shortage, and a view that the Irish people trying to steal jobs from the English led to many clashes in the streets in London and other large cities in the United Kingdom. -
Dynamite
In the 1860s the great Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. Alfred Nobel's dynamite used gun powder and a fuse to light the dynamite. The name dynamite is greek for dynamis meaning power in English. The impact of the invention meant was huge because people in the Uk started using it in the mines making it easier mine for ores. That also mean't less people were needed to do manual labour in the mine. -
The first telephone
Alexander Bell invented the first 'practical' telephone. His telephone used a liquid transmitter which was unheard of at the time. The transmitter created a varying strength electric signal travelled down a wire to receiver. Sounds from the electric signal were then recreated to the person at the other person of the line which they could hear. It was quickly adopted by the wealthy and rapidly spread in use. -
First car production line
Henry Ford wasn't the first to invent the car but his model T car revolutionised car production. His invention was the first to be assembled on a production line. This made manufacturing more efficient and more quickly built. It was quickly taken up by people. The model T was an affordable car was easy to use to travel between places and required little maintenance. -
Anglo-German arms race
This event was the catalyst to a big war with Britain. The British built the first dreadnought - a battleship. The age of cannons had gone and the age of ammunition shells had begun. The Germans then matched the British by building 24 dreadnoughts and dreadnought battle cruisers. They fought with these ships during World War 1. The arms race ended with an assassination but it started engulfing the world to build bigger and most destructive weapons for the next 90 or so years.
