Industrial Revolution Inventions
These inventions transformed production and created the modern world.
Textile Inventions
Flying Shuttle (1733, John Kay): Doubled weaver productivity, creating demand for yarn.
Spinning Jenny (1764, James Hargreaves): One worker could spin 8 (eventually 120) threads simultaneously.
Water Frame (1769, Richard Arkwright): Water-powered spinning machine. Produced strong thread.
Spinning Mule (1779, Samuel Crompton): Combined Jenny and Frame. Produced fine, strong thread.
Power Loom (1785, Edmund Cartwright): Mechanized weaving to match spinning capacity.
Cotton Gin (1793, Eli Whitney): Separated cotton fibers from seeds. Revolutionized cotton production (and sadly, expanded slavery).
Steam Power
Newcomen Engine (1712): First practical steam engine; pumped water from mines.
Watt Steam Engine (1769): James Watt's improvements made steam power efficient and versatile.
- Factory power (replacing water)
- Locomotives
- Steamships
- Mining and metalworking
Steam was the universal power source of the Industrial Age.
Iron and Steel
Coke Smelting (1709, Abraham Darby): Used coal (as coke) instead of charcoal. Enabled mass iron production.
Bessemer Process (1856): First inexpensive process for mass-producing steel. Enabled railroads, skyscrapers, bridges.
Transportation
Steamboat (1807, Robert Fulton): Reliable upstream navigation.
Locomotive (1804, Richard Trevithick; 1829, Stephenson's Rocket): Railways transformed overland transport.
Macadam Roads (1820s): All-weather road surfaces enabled year-round wheeled transport.
Communication
Telegraph (1837, Morse): Instant long-distance communication. "What hath God wrought."
These inventions didn't just change how we make things — they changed how we live.
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