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Jethro Tull
While a British rock band made his name famous nearly 300 years after his birth, Jethro Tull (1664 – 1741) was renowned in his own right as an agricultural pioneer and the inventor of the seed drill, the horse drawn hoe, and an improved plough, all major developments in the 18th century agricultural revolution. -
Abraham Darby
Born into an English Quaker family that played an important role in the Industrial Revolution, Darby developed a method of producing pig iron in a blast furnace fuelled by coke rather than charcoal. This was a major step forward in the production of iron as a raw material for the Industrial Revolution. -
Thomas Newcomen
Newcomen invented the world's first successful atmospheric steam engine. The engine pumped water using a vacuum created by condensed steam. It became an important method of draining water from deep mines and was therefore a vital component in the Industrial Revolution in Britain. -
John Kay
Kay invented the wheel shuttle this meant that one person could operate a shuttle across a very wide loom, which greatly increased the rate of cloth production. The legacy of the Flying Shuttle is inestimable, it completely changed the weaving of textiles. -
James Hargreaves
He was one of three men responsible for the mechanisation of spinning: Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning jenny in 1764; Richard Arkwright patented the water frame in 1769; and Samuel Crompton combined the two, creating the spinning mule in 1779. -
Richard Arkwright
In 1769 Arkwright patented the spinning frame, a machine which produced twisted threads (initially for warps only), using wooden and metal cylinders rather than human fingers. -
Robert Owen
Spinning mules, a new invention for spinning cotton thread, but exchanged his business share within a few months for six spinning mules that he worked in rented factory space. -
Edmund Cartwright
Edmund Cartwright, English inventor of the first wool-combing machine and of the predecessor of the modern power loom. -
Robert Fulton
While living in France, Fulton designed the first working muscle-powered submarine, Nautilus, between 1793 and 1797. He also experimented with torpedoes. When tested, his submarine operated underwater for 17 minutes in 25 feet of water. -
George Stephenson
Stephenson constructed his first locomotive, 'Blucher', for hauling coal at Killingworth Colliery near Newcastle. In 1815, he invented a safety lamp for use in coalmines, nicknamed the 'Geordie'. In 1821, Stephenson was appointed engineer for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington railway. -
Elias Howe
Elias Howe patented the first ever lockstitch sewing machine in the world in 1846. His invention helped the mass production of sewing machines and clothing. That in turn revolutionized the sewing industry and freed women from some of the drudgery of daily life at the time. -
John Wesley
He discovered celluloid, the first synthetic plastic developed.
