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Jethro Tull invents the seed drill
Jethro Tull's invention of the seed drill was one of the first scientific farmers who wanted to be more productive and efficient when farming by creating something new. So, he invented the seed drill because he had seen that by just scattering the seeds everywhere on the ground, it was extremely wasteful. The seed drill was proficient in sowing seeds by digging into the soil and putting in seeds in well spaced rows, thereby wasting less seeds. -
John Kay invents the flying shuttle
John Kay's major invention of the flying shuttle was the beginning of industrialization in the textile industry. His flying shuttle would spin and constantly feed the yarn, therefore doubling the work a weaver could do in a day. The flying shuttle created a domino effect of new inventions in the textiles industry. The flying shuttle led to the different inventions of the spinning jenny and the spinning mule. These new inventions were basically new and improved versions of the flying shuttle. -
James Watt builds the first steam engine.
James Watt invented the first steam engine while his partner, Matthew Boulton, helped with more of the finances and organized everything, acting as the entrepreneur. James Watt was inspired to create the first steam engine because the steam powered pump was too expensive because of how much fuel it uses up. This caused James Watt to want to create a more efficient and cheap source of power, leading to the steam engine, or what he and his partner named, the Boulton-Watt. -
Marx and Engels publish The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their ideas in a 23-page pamphlet named "The Communist Manifesto", and explained their new type of socialism. In the Manifesto, Marx and Engels explained that society was split between the bourgeoisie, or the "have's", and the proletariat, or the "have-not's". The bourgeoise were the employers while the proletariat were the workers. So, these two men assumed and predicted that the workers would win against and overthrow the employers. -
US Civil War ends; US experiences technological boom
Until the end of the Civil War, the U.S. relied primarily on agriculture. However, after the Civil War, the U.S. started to focus on industry due to their wealth of natural resources, many new inventions, and rise in population. Samuel Slater brought the design of the spinning machine to the U.S. which started the technological boom. Railroads started rapidly emerging all across the U.S. and many businesses began to merge to create large businesses, which led to stocks and corporations. -
Germany becomes dominant industrial power in Europe
Industrialized towns started emerging little by little across Germany, which started the Industrial Revolution in Germany. Germany, in fact, modeled Britain in Britain's industry and brought British equipment and engineers to Germany. Some Germans even sent their children to Britain to learn about industrial management. They grew in industrial power when they decided to build railroads linked between growing manufacturing cities. Ths economic strength developed its military power, also. -
British Unions win right to strike
British Unions were British voluntary labor associations comprised of British workers, that represented the workers and tehir demands. Sometimes, unions would go on strike, or refuse to work, if the factory owners did not comply with the workers' demands for better working conditions and higher salaries. For a long time, the British government banned unions and strikes in the Combination Acts, but these acts were repealed. Succesful strikes would often win higher salaries and shorter work hours.