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Invention: Seed Drill
Jethro Tull creates the seed drill to plant more efficiently. It created the row, and is still used to this day although updated. -
Invention: Tuning Fork
Musician John Shore invented the tuning fork. It emits a high musical tone after dinging it. -
Invention: Atmospheric Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen invented this steam engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam drawn into the cylinder, thereby creating a partial vacuum which allowed the atmospheric pressure to push the piston into the cylinder. -
Invention: Mercury Thermometer
This was the first thermometer, capable of telling early colonists the temperature -
Invention: Flying Shuttle
This invention was an important step towards automatic weaving. -
Invention: Leyden Jar
The Leyden jar was capable of holding electrical currents inside of it using circuits and other mechanics. -
Invention: Marine Chronometer
A watch that read the time so accurately that it was used to predict longitude. -
Invention: Lightning Rod
Benjamin Franklin famously invented the lightning rod. It redirects lightning protecting structures from damage that lightning would cause. -
Invention: Sextant
This invention helped sailors navigate the seas. -
Invention: Chromatic Lens
An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. -
George III Becomes King in Britain
George III was the king during the American Revolution. His coming to power highlights the colonists frustrations and oppression. -
Royal Proclamation
The king forbade settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to limit costly wars with Native Americans. Colonists, however, protested and demanded access to the territory for which they had fought alongside the British -
Invention: Spinning Jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving during the early Industrial Revolution -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act sought to combat widespread smuggling of molasses in New England by cutting the duty in half but increasing enforcement. -
Currency Act
This restricted the production of paper money in the colonies. -
Stamp Act
The act required that many documents be printed on paper that had been stamped to show the duty had been paid, including newspapers, pamphlets, diplomas, legal documents, and even playing cards. -
Daniel Dulany Protests
“A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single purpose of revenue, is denied, a right to regulate their trade without their consent is, admitted.” -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress issued a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” ... declared allegiance to the king and “all due subordination” to Parliament but also reasserted the idea that colonists were entitled to the same rights as Britons. -
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Stamp Act: Merchant Boycotting
“Upwards of two hundred principal merchants” agreed not to import, sell, or buy “any goods, wares, or merchandises” from Great Britain because of the taxes. -
Virginia Resolves
This declared that the colonists were entitled to “all the liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities . . . possessed by the people of Great Britain.” -
Stamp Act Repeal
After much pressure from the colonies, the Stamp Act is repealed. -
Townshed Acts Attempt to Earn Revenue
the Townshend Acts, were passed in June 1767, creating new customs duties on common items, like lead, glass, paint, and tea, instead of direct taxes. The acts also created and strengthened formal mechanisms to enforce compliance, including a new American Board of Customs Commissioners and more vice-admiralty courts to try smugglers. -
Invention: Spinning Frame
A machine that draws and twists fibers into yarn and winds it on spindles. This further revolutionized weaving. -
Invention: Improved Steam Engine
The Watt steam engine, alternatively known as the Boulton and Watt steam engine, was an early steam engine and was one of the driving forces of the industrial revolution. -
Boston Massacre
Soldiers kill 5 people in a protest and are later acquitted, infuriating colonists further. -
Tea Act Passed
This would allow the company to sell its tea in the colonies directly and without the usual import duties. This would greatly lower the cost of tea for colonists, but, again, they resisted. -
Tea Party
Men disguised as Indians sneak onto the cargo ship carrying tea and dump 342 chests of tea into the sea, touching nothing else on the ship. This encouraged the other colonies to do the same. -
Invention: Steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move propellers or paddlewheels. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts Passed
The Boston Port Act shut down the harbor and cut off all trade to and from the city. The Massachusetts Government Act put the colonial government entirely under British control, dissolving all assembly in town. The Administration of Justice Act allowed any royal official accused of a crime to be tried in Britain rather than by Massachusetts courts and juries. Finally, the Quartering Act, passed for all colonies, allowed the British army to quarter newly arrived soldiers in colonists’ homes. -
Battle: Lexington and Concord
This confrontation at the Lexington town started off the revolutionary war. Under the intense fire and attack, the British finally retreated to Boston. -
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American Revolution
The colonists finally had enough of Britons tyranny, so they fought for their independence in this bloody and historic war. -
Siege: Fort Ticonderoga
The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was a small-scale conflict but one that was an important first victory of the American forces in the revolution. The continental army also acquired much-needed artillery to be used in subsequent battles. -
Battle: Bunker Hill
This battle resulted in great losses to the inexperienced colonial army despite their victory which spurred on their confidence. -
Invention: Submarine
This allowed people into deeper waters than ever before. -
Sons of Liberty Firmly Established
The Suns of Liberty formed in most of the colonies and thought of ways of resistance -
Declaratory Act Passed
This was passed with little notice from the colonies because they were busy celebrating the Stamp Act Repeal. This act stated that Parliament had the “full power and authority to make laws . . . to bind the colonies and people of America . . . in all cases whatsoever.” -
Declaration of Independence
The colonies formally declared their independence from Briton with this document. -
Battle: Fort Washington
The Battle of Fort Washington was a battle in the American Revolutionary War that resulted in a British victory and the subsequent surrender of the garrison at Fort Washington. The battle ended in one of the worst Patriot defeats. -
Battle: Trenton
General George Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River in the middle of the night. Washington captured more than 900 men and occupied Trenton four days later. -
Battle: Princeton
General George Washington led a daring night match to capture Princeton after luring the British forces south. This victory, along with Trenton, was pivotal in boosting the morale of the American troops and reassuring their cause in independence. -
Battle: Saratoga (Freeman's Farm)
The First Battle of Saratoga was fought on September 19th and was a British victory over the American forces. The victory was small but very costly to the British under General John Burgoyne. -
Battle: Saratoga (Bemis Heights)
The British attacked the Americans again at Bemis Heights but this time it was a defeat and they were forced to retreat. This American victory convinced the French government to join the war as an American ally by providing open military assistance. -
Invention: Spinning Mule
The spinning mule is a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres. -
Invention: Bifocals
Bifocals = Glasses. -
Battle: King's Mountain
The battle was an emphatic victory for the Patriot militia and one of the bloodiest battles in the war. The Loyalists suffered 157 killed, 163 wounded, and 698 captured while the Patriots suffered just 28 killed and 60 wounded. -
Battle: Cowpens
American troops caused heavy losses to the British in what was an important engagement in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War. -
Battle: Yorktown
After three weeks of bombardment, day and night, the British eventually surrendered in the field at Yorktown which resulted in the end of the War for independence. -
Invention: Hot Air Balloon
This invention allowed flight with limited control -
Invention: Steel Roller
This allowed fast transportation with steel wheels on steel rails. -
Threshing Machine
A threshing machine or thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. -
Invention: Safety Lock
The safety lock introduced locked doors without a giant board doing it. -
Invention: Working Parachute
This was not the first parachute, but the first WORKING parachute. It slows down falling. -
Invention: Steamboat
The steamboats were fast and efficient in travel for the time. -
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Shay's Rebellion
Resulting from a bad economy after the American Revolution. Many farmers called "Shaysites" protested against their properties being taken away as a result of their debt. -
Invention: Guillotine
A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top.
This invention lead to many deaths. -
1st U.S. President: George Washington
George Washington's Inauguration occurs in New York, NY. He takes the oath of office and becomes the first President of the United States. -
Invention: Gas Turbine
The gas turbine compresses air and mixes it with fuel that is then burned at extremely high temperatures, creating a hot gas. Hot gas spins turbine blades. -
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Whiskey Rebellion
After Hamilton placed a tax on whiskey there was a rebellion against it. Farmers mostly. Many were arrested, but few convicted because of a lack of evidence. -
Invention: Gas Lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. -
Invention: Ball Bearings
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. -
Invention: Cotton Gin
A cotton gin – meaning "cotton engine" – is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. This was a huge factor in slavery. -
Invention: Preserving Jar of Food
Similar to the modern day can, this invention or technique allowed people to store food for longer periods of time without it rotting or going bad. -
Vaccine: Small Pox
The vaccine cured people of small pox. -
2nd U.S. President: John Adams
John Adams serves as the 2nd President of the United States starting in 1797 and ending in 1801 -
Invention: Precision Lathe
The precision lathe is a machine which turns the work piece against a machine tool. The Lathe is used for facing, turning, knurling, taper cutting, threading, gear cutting and many other metal and wood works. -
Invention: Lithography
Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. -
Alien and Sedition Acts Passed
These two laws ... were intended to prevent French agents and sympathizers from compromising America’s resistance, but they also attacked Americans who criticized the president and the Federalist Party. -
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Quasi-War
America faced a time of anxiety waiting to see if war would break out after France authorized its vessels to attack American merchant ships. -
Invention: Fourdrinier Machine
A paper making machine.
