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The Typewriter
During the year 1714, a patent was granted to a man named Henry Mill in England. The typewriter acts like a modern day keyboard and printer. The early typewriters could type all 26 letters, but used piano keys. This made typing awkward. The second model is much like modern day keyboards. It was invented to make writing easier, faster, and neater. At first society rejected the typewriters, thinking that they were just another version of the printing press. Soon, it became a hit. -
Flying Shuttle
Invented in England by an inventor named John Kay, the flying shuttle sped up weaving. At first, workers spun fibers into thread, then another worker wove it into cloth. This was a very long process that made many types of clothes nearly unaffordable. The Flying Shuttle was an improved version of the Flying Jenny. Kay added a chord that was jerked through threads. This made clothes less expensive and faster to make. However, it was unliked because of fear of unemployment for weavers. -
Cotton Gin
The cotton gin changed the way cotton was harvested. It allowed workers to separate 50 times more pounds than before. Eli Whitney was not the first to come up with the idea, but did come up with a new and improved version to clean cotton. This invention was needed because only certain types of cotton could be picked with the old method. The Cotton Gin allowed all kinds to be picked. -
Sewing Machine
Barthélemy Thimonnier is often considered the inventor of the machine. At first it was barely used, for it was expensive. However, later is was widely used by factory workers. Now the workers could work at home and not complain about factory conditions. The sewing machine let regular people put together their own clothes, by sewing it with thread, but much faster than by hand. It helped lower classes speed up their clothing production. Society changed their thoughts on Women now. -
Light Bulb
The first lightbulb was a cotton thread in a vacuum that would burn for several hours. Without being disturbed, the thread would glow when heated, giving off light. This was invented by Edison because the previous 'lightbulb' was a gaslight, which wouldn't last as long. Sir Joseph Swan invented the incandescent lightbulb. It changed society because his idea spread broadly and lead to even more scientific discoveries.
