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Newcomen Steam Engine
In 1712, Thomas Newcomen invented the first steam engine. It was used predominantly for coal mining to pump water out from the mines which would allow the miners to dig for coal further down. The engine would use coal to create steam which operated the steam pump. It was, however, dreadfully inefficient as it required huge amounts of coal to function. -
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The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution (c.1760-1840) introduced many new inventions that would change the world forever. It was a time epitomised by the wide scale introduction of machinery, the transformation of cities and significant technological developments in a wide range of areas. Many modern mechanisms have their origins from this period. -
Spinning Jenny
Spinning jenny was a spinning engine invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves. Able to be operated by unskilled workers, it was a key development in the industrialisation of weaving, as it could spin many spindles at a time. -
The Modern Factory
With the introduction of machinery, factories began springing up first in Britain and then across the world. The man credited with inventing the modern factory is Richard Arkwright, after he constructed Cromford Mill in 1771. It was the first water-powered cotton spinning mill and initially employed 200 workers running day and night with two 12-hour shifts. -
Watt Steam Engine
During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Scottish engineer James Watt sought to improve Newcomen’s engine. He thus invented the first practical steam engine. Watt’s engine was very similar to Newcomen’s, but it required less fuel to run and was thus much more efficient and attractive to potential buyers. It was introduced commercially in 1776 and became the basis for future developments that saw the steam engine become the main source of power for a large variety of British industries. -
The Locomotive
The first recorded steam railway journey took place on 21 February 1812 and carried ten tons of iron, five wagons and seventy men 9.75 miles in four hours and five minutes. The journey had an average speed of 2.4 mph. Twenty-five years later, George Stephenson and his son, Robert Stephenson, designed ‘Stephenson’s Rocket’.The Rocket’s design – with its smoke chimney at the front and a separate firebox in the rear – became the template for future steam locomotives for the next 150 years. -
The Photograph
In 1826, French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce invented the first permanent photograph of a camera image. He took it from his window using a camera obscura, a primitive camera, creating the earliest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. -
The Typewriter
In 1829 William Burt, an American inventor, patented the first type-writer which he called a ‘typographer’. Although it was dreadfully ineffective (actually proving slower to use than writing something out by hand), Burt is nonetheless regarded as the ‘father of the typewriter’. It was only 38 years later, in 1867, that the first modern typewriter was invented by Christopher Sholes. -
The Electric Generator
The first electric generator was invented by Michael Faraday in 1831: the Faraday Disk. Although it was not very effective, Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction (the production of voltage across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field) soon led to improvements, such as the dynamo. -
Telegraph Communications
In 1837 Sir William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone successfully demonstrated the first electrical telegraph that was installed between Euston and Camden Town in London. The next year they installed the system along thirteen miles of Great Western Railway. It was the first commercial telegraph in the world. One of the main figures behind the invention of the telegraph was the American Samuel Morse, who also went on to develop Morse Code. -
Dynamite
Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, in the 1860s. Prior to its invention, gunpowder (called black powder) had been used to shatter rocks and fortifications. Dynamite, however, proved stronger and safer, quickly gaining widespread use. Alfred called his new invention dynamite, after the ancient Greek word ‘dunamis’, meaning ‘power.’ He did not want it to be used for military purposes but, as we all know, the explosive was soon embraced by armies across the world
