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Thomas Newcomen
He was a British engineer and inventor who created the Newcomen atmospheric engine or steam engine. It was created to water out of Cornish tin mines faster than a horse. It took him ten years while working with John Calley, a plumber, to create the engine. -
Abraham Darby
He was a British ironmaster who was the first to successfully melt iron ore with coke. He founded the Bristol Iron Company and produced iron in a coke-fired furnace. This showed how coke was more efficiant and costed less than charcoal when used as fuel. This made it possible for him to make castings with other metals. -
John Kay
He was a British engineer and inventor who created the flying shuttle. The shuttle was an important part of weaving and would need to be passed back and forth continuously. This needed at least two people to do this. The flying shuttle was on wheels on a track and used paddles to move it back and forth. This meant that one weaver could could weave fabrics of any size faster than before. -
Sir Richard Arkwright
He was a British Industrialist and inventor who created the water frame. His water powered machine made cotton yarn that was fit to wrap and was stronger than the thread made from the spinning jenny. He then opened some factories with several partners that used the water frame. -
Edmund Cartwright
He was a British inventor who created the power loom. He was inspired by Arkwright´s water frame on a visit in 1784. He set up a weaving and spinning factory, but had to give it up about eight years later. He recieved 10,000 pounds in recognition from the House of Commons, but did not benefit much otherwise. -
Nicolas LeBlanc
He was a French chemist and surgeon who made the processes of creating soda ash, salt, and other compounds of sodium. These compounds helped make materials like paper, glass, and soap. The process he came up with was simpler and cheaper for industries. -
Eli Whitney
He was an American inventor, mechanical engineer, and manufacturer who created the cotton gin. His cotton gin was made of four parts and proved to easily clean green seeded cotton. He was later involved in lawsuits with the southern states for infringment of the patent and recieved 90,000 dollars from these states. -
Robert Fulton
He is an American Engineer who created the world´s first successful steamboat. It was 150 ft long and had a steam engine that powered two 15 ft diameter side paddle wheels. Its trial run from New York, New York to Albany, New York took thirty-two hours. -
George Stephenson
He was a British inventor and engineer who created the steam locomotive. He built several locomotives and even built the first public passenger train which was pulled by Stephenson´s Active(renamed Locomotion). It carried 450 people at 15 miles per hour. Cities then became interested in building railroads conecting them. -
Elias Howe
He was an American inventor who created sewing machines. It took him five years to develop this. It attracted little attention did not sell very well in the United States. He then sold the patent to England for 1,250 dollars and he worked in England to enhance his sewing machine so it would work with other materials like leather. -
Cyrus Field
He was an American financier who carried out the project to create a telegraph cable across the Atlantic. It took him many attempts before he successfully laid the cable. It took him from August 1857 to July 1866 to try and lay the telegraphic cable. -
Alessandro Volta
He was an Italian physicist who created the electric battery. He began experimenting with metals after an announcement from one of his friends that said there was an electric current between two metals. He used some metals and materials that would make an electric current that would not need to be recharged.
