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The 1st Steam Engine
A man named Thomas Newcomen invented the first steam engine. It is wasn't very useful yet, but the idea of using steam to make machines is important to the Industrial Revolution. -
The Spinning Jenny
A man named James Hargreaves, a British carpenter and weaver, invented the spinning jenny. The machine spins more than one ball of yarn or thread at a time, making it easier and faster to make cloth. -
The Better Steam Engine
A man named James Watt from Scotland designs a better steam engine. One of the most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution, steam engines power the first trains, steamboats, and factories. -
The Cotton Gin
A man named Eil Whitney made a cotton gin. The gin was used make it easy to seprate cotton and cotton fiber from each other. And cotton is very hard to pick also. -
The Telegraph
A man named Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, which allows messages to be sent quickly over a wire. By 1860, telegraph wires stretch from the east coast of the United States west of the Mississippi River. -
The Sewing Machine
When people had to make their own clothes at home or pay someone else to sew them by hand, Elias Howe invented the sewing machine. Now clothes are made in large factories! -
Elevator Safety Break
Elevators were already invented by 1853, but people worried about elevator cars falling. Elisha Otis invents a safety break to keep people from falling if a cable breaks, making people feel more confident about using elevators in tall buildings. -
Steel
A man named Henry Bessemer invented a process for making steel out of iron. Having a way to make steel more quickly and more cheaply helps the production of building and leads to the growth of cities. -
Dynamite
A man named Alfred Nobel invents dynamite, which is a safer way to blast holes in mountains or the ground than simply lighting black powder. Dynamite is important in clearing paths to build things such as roads and railroad tracks. -
Vaccines for Diseases
A chemist named Louis Pasteur believed that germs caused disease. Using this information, he created vaccines that helped prevent many common diseases, which helped people live longer. -
Patents the Telephone
He may not have invented the telephone, but Alexander Graham Bell was the first to get a patent for it. Being able to speak to people over a telephone wire greatly changes the way the world communicates.