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FIRST STEAM ENGINE IS INVENTED
Thomas Newcomen created his atmospheric engine, which used steam to push floodwater out of a mine, in 1712. It was the first piston-powered external combustion steam engine of its sort. The engine was inefficient and used a lot of energy to run. -
BRITISH VICTORY IN THE BATTLE OF PLASSEY
The Battle of Plassey victory for the British East India Company marked the beginning of nearly two centuries of British control in India. It was a remarkably underwhelming military battle for a situation with such significant ramifications, with the Nawab of Bengal's demise mostly attributable to treason. -
INVENTION OF THE SPINNING JENNY
The Spinning Jenny was a multi spindle spinning frame invented by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, Lancashire in England. It was one of the first and key inventions of the First Industrial Revolution in Britain that powered its cotton textile industry. The Jenny initially had 8 spindles doing the work of 8 workers at a time. In 1768, a group of spinners fearing unemployment broke into Hargreaves’ house and destroyed his spinning jenny machines, forcing him to flee to Nottingham. -
RICHARD ARKWRIGHT OPENS HIS FIRST FACTORY AT CROMFORD
Richard Arkwright was a shrewd businessman, innovator and among the leading entrepreneurs of 18th century Britain. Some small mills and factories were present in Britain as early as John Lombe’s water-powered silk mill at Derby, in 1721. However, Arkwright is widely credited with being the brain behind the modern factory system. In 1771, Arkwright established his first factory using his “spinning frame“ on the river Derwent at Cromford, England. -
SAMUEL SLATER LEAVES FOR AMERICA
In 1789, Samuel Slater migrated to America; it is said he informed no one and disguised himself. In the new world he would replicate British designs, find success and be revered as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution”; but in his country he would be called “Slater the Traitor“. The United States would go on to lead the Second Industrial Revolution. -
ELI WHITNEY PATENTS THE COTTON GIN
In the late 18th century, the mechanization of spinning in England had created a vast market for raw cotton, a plant that was not indigenous to Britain. Massachusetts Yankee Eli Whitney, who was on a trip to the south for a teaching job, landed at the Mulberry Grove plantation due to some unexpected circumstances. Understanding the plight of the cotton farmers and the economics of the situation, Whitney made a device that he called a “cotton gin“. -
NOMINATION OF HENRY CLAY FOR U.S. PRESIDENT IS TELEGRAPHED
The first commercial telegraph was built in 1833 by Friedrich Gauss and Wilhelm Weber. William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone managed to create the multi wire telegraph in 1837. In 1838, after some years of financial troubles and challenges and with the valuable help of Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail, Samuel Morse made the first demonstration of his single wire telegraph which was far simpler, more efficient and easier to use than any of its competitors. -
BESSEMER PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING STEEL IS DISCOVERED
The Bessemer steel process is a classic example of military’s impetus to technological development. During the Crimean War in the 1850s, Henry Bessemer worked on the problem of manufacturing cheap steel for British Navy. He noted the effect of hot air blast in removing carbon impurities from iron. In 1855, he successfully produced a low-grade steel from molten pig iron in a side-blown fixed converter without any external source of heat. -
ÉTIENNE LENOIR MAKES A SUCCESSFUL INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE
In 1804 Franco-Swiss inventor Isaac de Rivaz created an internal combustion engine which is considered the first of its kind in the world. French physicist Nicolas Carnot elaborated the concept of internal combustion engine in 1824. But it was Belgian inventor Jean-Joseph-Étienne Lenoir who made the first commercially successful internal combustion engine in 1859. Lenoir’s engine was a two stroke cycle engine which used a mixture of coal gas and air. -
RANSOM ELI OLDS INTRODUCES MODERN ASSEMBLY LINE
An assembly line is a line of factory workers and equipment along which a product being assembled passes consecutively from operation to operation until completed. Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer of the American Automotive Industry in the late 19th and early 20th century. Having founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Michigan, in 1897, Olds is credited with creating and patenting the stationary modern assembly line in 1901.