Inventors and Inventions

Jethro Tull invents the Seed Drill

1701

Jethro Tull's seed drill was a horse-drawn mechanical seed drill. The drill incorporated a rotating cylinder in which grooves were cut to allow seed to pass from a hopper above to a funnel below. This was used as a way to plant more efficently, and this changed the speed of agricultural advancements.

Abraham Darby's sand casting

1708

Abraham Darby developed the process of sand molding that allowed iron and brass goods to be mass-produced at a lower cost per unit. This was used for smelting iron, allowing the mass production of cast iron. This was used to produce large quantities of cast iron during the industrial revolution.

John Kay

1733

John Kay invented the flying shuttle, a wheeled shuttle for the hand loom. It greatly accelerated weaving, by allowing the shuttle carrying the weft to be passed through the warp threads faster and over a greater width of cloth. This was used to weave fabrics of any width.

John Roebuck

1746

John Roebuck introduced the lead chamber process to mass produce sulfuric acid. This became the most efficient way to produce acid for nearly two centuries. Sulfuric acid has become an important industrial chemical, used for storage batteries, papermaking, and many other industrial processes.

Richard Arkwright

1767

Richard Arkwright invented the water frame, a machine making it possible to mass produce strong yarn and reduced the need to spin cotton by hand. This creation is no longer active, but still affects us today. This invention led to the creation of factories which are used everyday.

James Watt

1776

James Watt invented the Watt steam engine after noticing problems with Newcomens. Instead of using atmospheric pressure like Newcomen, Watt used steam alternating on both sides of the piston so that the engine would run more smoothly. With this discovery, he improved the engine's performance. This invention enabled the steam engine to be used to operate rotary machines in factories such as cotton mills.

Samuel Crompton

1779

Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule, a machine improving textile production by vastly increasing the amount of cotton that could be spun at any one time. This allowed for large-scale manufacture of thread for the textile industry.

Edmund Cartwright

1785

Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom, a machine or device that holds the threads and helps you weave them. This invention sped up the process of weaving cloth immensely, allowing for much more cloth to be produced, and at a much faster rate.

Eli Whitney

1794

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber.Tthe cotton gin had an enormous impact on the cotton industry, and the American economy, especially in the South. It unfortunately also increased the need for slavery.

Alessandro Volta

1800

Alessandro Volta invented the electtric battery, after he found that electricity could be produced by just stacking alternate layers or discs of metals zinc and silver in a saltwater bath that would allow current to flow. This was used as a simple and reliable source of electric current, allowing them to study electricity better than they could before.

Karl Marx

1847

Karl Marx's theory of communism is that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create class conflict. He believed that this conflict would ultimately lead to a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the capitalist class and seize control of the economy. His theory has continued to impact the world.

Cyrus Field

1854

Cyrus Field invented the telegraph cable, and nsecured a charter to lay a well-insulated line across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Although it took many tries to establish a connection with all the continents, in the end it made communication much easier and faster.