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You are here: UK History > Industrial Revolution > Important inventions from the Industrial Revolutio
There were a number of inventions, patented in Britain which helped further the Industrial Revolution, including the following.
The following inventions made it possible for mass production of cotton and woollen thread and yarn, making Britain the world’s leading manufacturer of textiles, especially towards the end of the 18th century.
The Spinning Jenny
The Spinning Jenny was created by James Hargreaves, an uneducated spinner from Lancashire in around 1764. The Spinning Jenny could draw thread from 8 spindles simultaneously instead of the one seen on a traditional spinning wheel. He was inspired by his daughter, Jenny (hence the name), when she knocked over the family’s spinning wheel and Hargreaves noticed that the spindle continued to turn, even while the...Read More
There were a number of inventions, patented in Britain which helped further the Industrial Revolution, including the following.
The following inventions made it possible for mass production of cotton and woollen thread and yarn, making Britain the world’s leading manufacturer of textiles, especially towards the end of the 18th century.
The Spinning Jenny
The Spinning Jenny was created by James Hargreaves, an uneducated spinner from Lancashire in around 1764. The Spinning Jenny could draw thread from 8 spindles simultaneously instead of the one seen on a traditional spinning wheel. He was inspired by his daughter, Jenny (hence the name), when she knocked over the family’s spinning wheel and Hargreaves noticed that the spindle continued to turn, even while the machine was led down, which gave him the idea that a single wheel could turn several spindles at once. He patented his invention six years later. The Spinning Jenny was small enough to be used by home weavers but was more productive than their predecessors.
The Water Frame
The water frame, created by Richard Arkwright in 1769 was the first fully automatic and continuously operating spinning machine, creating stronger and greater quantities of thread than the Spinning Jenny. It was powered by a waterwheel and because of this, it could not be used by home spinners, instead needing to be located in a large space near a fast running stream. This led Arkwright and his partners to build factories in the more mountainous areas of Britain, which led to spinners and weavers being employed in such places, rather than at home and also saw the first children enter the factories.
The spinning mule
The spinning Mule was invented by Samuel Crompton, who combined the features of the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame. His machine was capable of producing a variety of yarn and made it possible for a single operator to work more than 1000 spindles simultaneously. Unfortunately, he was too poor to patent the idea himself and had his work stolen from him by a group of manufacturers. The spinning mule eventually went on to become common use in factories across Britain.
When it comes to the textile industry’s first highly mechanised factory, we need to look towards John Lombe’s water-powered silk mill in Derby, which is believed to have been the first of its kind. The factory was operational by 1721 and it is said that Lombe learned the trade by working in Italy, where he indulged in some industrial espionage. Eventually, his supply of raw silk was cut off, but to continue to promote the production of silk in Britain, the Crown paid for models of Lombe’s machines, which were then displayed a the Tower of London.
The site of John Lombe’s silk mill can still be visited, it has been rebuilt and is now known as the Derby Silk Mill.
The steam engine increased the productive capacity of factories, as well as hugely expanding transportation networks into the 19th century. Some of the early steam engines included:
Watt’s Steam Engine
James Watt, a Scottish Inventor, was not the first person to create the steam engine, which had been in use since the 17th century to help pump water out of mines, but he was the first to perfect it. He built on the earlier engines to increase their efficiency by adding a condenser and by 1781 had invented a machine that would rotate rather than pump. The Watt’s Steam Engine as it went on to be known became common use across Britain’s industry and was the primary power source for paper mills, flour mills, cotton mills, iron mills, distilleries, canals and waterworks.
The steam locomotive
Richard Trevithick is widely regarded as being the inventor of the steam railway locomotive. Funnily enough, he used a technique which had been discarded by James Watt for being impractical. Trevithick also adapted his version of the steam engine to propel a barge. This version generated greater power than Watts’ and became well used in Britain.
The first steam powered locomotive to carry paying passengers was the Active (later renamed the Locomotion). It was designed by George Stephenson and made its maiden voyage in 1825. A few years later, the first passenger railroad between Liverpool and Manchester was completed, so Stephenson and his son designed a faster version that they called the Rocket.
Following this, steam trains and railways underwent improvements. Andrew J Beard, an American inventor, patented the Jenny coupler, which connected railway cars and eliminated the dangerous jon of manually connecting the cars. Other inventions soon followed, including one that would allow trains to run continuously without having to stop for more oil to lubricate the engines during use.
Britain was one of the first countries, along with France and the US to create and use steamboats. The first transoceanic voyage using steam power was completed in 1819, the ship, the Savannah, was an American sailing ship that sailed from Savannah in Georgia to Liverpool in around 27 days. This paved the way for other ships, including a steamship ferry service which would carry passengers, cargo and mail across the North Atlantic.
Electricity has been around for much longer than we might think, with Victorian England often attending performances that used electricity demonstrations for entertainment.
Generators and motors
British scientist Michael Faraday is considered to be one of the first to demonstrate the generation of an electric current using magnets. His experiments formed the basis of the electric motor, which in turn became the first electric generators or dynamos, which converts mechanical energy into electricity. These fundamentals of these invasions are still in use today for lighting and electric trains.
The electric lamp
Both Joseph Swan in England and then Thomas Edison in the US, independently invented an electric incandescent lamp, which produced continuous light by heating a filament with an electric current. As they both made the discovery around the same time and tried to get patents, a legal battle ensued, eventually ending with them forming a joint company in 1883. Edison usually gets the credit however, because he furthered his experimentation to include power lines. From the first production of the lamps, they replaced gas and kerosene lamps into the 20th century.
Another outcome of the Industrial Revolution was communication, with both the telegraph and the telephone making reliable communication over large distances possible for the first time, which made a huge impact on everything from industry to journalism to military operations.
The telegraph
Like electric lamps, the first electric telegraph systems were created almost simultaneous in both Britain and America. In Britain, the device was created by William Fothergill Coke and Charles Wheatstone. This was developed further by a group of inventors, including Samuel F B Morse, who created his own version and a universal code, known as Morse Code that could be used in any system of telegraphy to relay simple messages. The first message sent using Morse Code across a telegraph line in America said “What hath God Wrought!”
Telegraph cables were first laid across the English Channel in 1851 and then across the Atlantic in 1858.
The telephone
The telephone was created by Alexander Graham Bell and transmitted sound using electric currents. While Bell is credited as the inventor, Lewis Latimer was a huge contributor and developed the work while drawing up the patent for Bell. The initial device consisted of two sets of metallic reeds and electromagnetic coils. Sound waves produced near one would cause it to vibrate and induce the corresponding currents in the other coil, reproducing the original soundwave.
The first call took place between two rooms of Bell’s laboratory in Boston, North America, the message? “Come here, I want to see you.” Initially, the telephone was only really used as a curiosity, but soon became a common household instrument.
The Internal Combustion Engine and the gas powered automobile were two of the biggest inventions to come out of the Industrial Revolution. The automobile replaced the horse and carriage across the world and offered greater freedom of movement for ordinary people, as well as facilitating links between rural and urban areas across the world. However, it has led to severe air pollution problems.
The internal combustion engine
The engine works through the combustion of air and fuel, the first successful one used a combination of coal gas and air and was created by a Belgian inventor. It was expensive and inefficient to run, until it was adapted by a German engineer who’s design eventually replaced steam engines in smaller industrial settings. The first petrol powered internal combustion engine used the same design and a further German engineer, Rudolf Diesel, construction the diesel engine, which used oil rather than petroleum and was more efficient, leading it to be used to power heavy machinery and submarines.
Because of its light weight, the petrol powered engine was perfect for smaller automobiles. The first motorcycle and car to be powered by such an internal combustion engine were constructed by Daimler and Karl Benz in 1885. By the 1890s, automobiles were being increasingly produced across Europe and the US. Less than 20 years later, Henry Ford perfected the assembly line methods of manufacturing to produce mullions of automobiles, especially the Model T Ford and light trucks. People like Ford made car ownership affordable for every day people on an average income.
Agriculture wasn’t left behind in the Industrial Revolution, new machinery helped yield greater produce and boosted food production to help feed a rising population.
The Steel Plow
Invented by John Deere in 1837, the steel plow was a major improvement as it was lighter and stronger. Within 20 years of its invention, over 10,0000 were being produced annually.
Mechanical reaper
The mechanical reaper greatly increased harvesting efficiency compared to handheld scythe, which had been used for over 5000 years.
Another part of the Industrial Revolution was the large scale production of chemicals. The first of these was the production of sulphuric acid by the lead chamber process which was invented by John Roebuck.
Nicholas Leblanc was the most successful in early alkali production, especially after introducing a method for the production of sodium carbonate. This process did however produce a lot of pollution, but the resulting soda ash was more economical than burning plants.
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