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Period: to
The Industrial Revolution
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James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny
In 1764 an illiterate carpenter named James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny. This allowed weavers to double their productivity. This meant that one man could do the work of over eight other people. This lead to people become angry at Hargreaves. The Luddites destroyed many of the spinning jenny’s. -
The Steam engine is greatly improved.
On c1769 James Watt in association with Matthew Bolton greatly improves the steam engine. It is used to lift coal out of mines and drive great hammers in the iron industry and to power spinning and weaving machines such as the Spinning Jenny and the Flying Shuttle. -
John Fitch made the first successful trial of a steamboat.
On August 22, 1787 John Fitch made the first ever successful trial of a steamboat on the Delaware River. Pistons forced air through the water, propelling the boat without flooding the engine. -
King Louis the XVI is executed
On the 21st of January 1793 King Louis the XVI was executed by a guillotine at Place de la Révolution (Revolution Square). This event took place at the end of the French Revolution, where the people took the country of France from the Monarch. -
Eli Whitney creates the cotton gin.
Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts America and inventor of the cotton gin. His invention revolutionised the cotton industry. It allowed cotton to be collected with hundreds less people. -
Edward Jenner created the vaccine for smallpox.
Edward Jenner born in England in 1749 discovered the first vaccine for smallpox. He found that milkmaids who had been infected with cowpox, a much less deadly disease, did not contract smallpox. To test his theory he injected an eight year old boy with cowpox and six weeks later exposed him to smallpox. The eight year old boy did not show any symptoms of smallpox. -
The first conventional battery is invented.
Alessandro Volta invented the first battery called the Voltaic Pile. It was the first practical method of generating electricity. The Voltaic Pile however could not generate electricity for a long period of time. -
Slave trade is banned in Britain
The slave trade act of parliament in Britain was passed on March 25 of 1807. This act banned slave trading in England, but not slavery. Many supporters of the bill thought that this would be the end to slavery itself, but slavery was not abolished for many more years. -
The Battle of Waterloo.
In April of 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated and taken from the French Throne and exiled from France to the Island of Elba. King Louis the XVI’s younger brother was then crowned king. Napoleon however escaped the island and massed an army to take back the throne. The forces that had exiled Napoleon then created an invasion force to once and for all defeat Napoleon. Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Warterloo and exiled to St. Helena Island. -
The first bicycle was invented.
The first ever bicycle was the Walking Machine invented by Baron von Drais. It was made to move around the royal gardens. It had two wheels of the same size and a steerable frame. It was propelled by pushing your feet along the ground as there were no pedals. -
Louis Pasteur was born.
Louis Pasteur was an incredibly gifted man who made many advancements in the field of science. He invented pasteurisation which prevents milk from going off too fast and alcohol from souring. Later in his life he also developed vaccinations for rabies and anthrax. -
The typewriter is invented.
Alfred Ely Beach born in the USA was the inventor of the typewriter. The original typewriter had a keyboard whose casing was in alphabetical order. The keyboard style was changed to the QWERTY system that we know today because the ink would smudge if you typed letters close to each other too frequently. None of the first typewriters were successful as they were not seen as a useful invention. -
The first ever photo was taken
In the summer of 1827 Joseph Niepce took the first ever photographic image. Prior to this event people only used the camera for viewing and drawing a certain area, not making photographs. -
George Stephenson begins a railway service between Liverpool and Manchester
The railway allowed goods to be transported safely. Very heavy goods such as coal, iron and clay could not be transported by road. Safe, fast and cheap transport meant cheaper goods and therefore more customers could afford the goods. -
Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph.
Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, which allowed messages to be sent quickly over a wire. In 1860, there was a telegraph wire which spread from the east of the USA to the south. -
Invention of the revolver.
In 1836 Samuel Colt invented the first ever revolver and named it after himself the “Colt”. The weapon was equipped with a revolving cylinder which chambers six rounds and an innovative cocking device. -
The sowing machine was invented.
Elias Howe was awarded a patent in 1846 for the first commercially viable sewing machine. It is what the printing press was to books, an invention that sped up a thousand fold the processing of textiles into marketable goods. -
“The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” is published.
In 1859 Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution in the book “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. His work was immediately recognised by the scientific community but was seen as a threat by some Christians. It explains that plants and animals have evolved over time and were not created the way they are now. -
The American civil war begins.
The American civil war began between the North and the South. It was the most costly war in American history. This war cost the country 600,000 people and led to over 1,000,000 casualties. It affected every person in America. As a result of the war slavery was abolished. -
Alfred Nobel invents dynamite.
Alfred Nobel was born in 1833 in Switzerland and was the inventor of dynamite. It was the most explosive device in the world at the time. It was used in the armed forces and also used to destroy rocks and clear out mines. Nobel did not want to be remembered for explosions so he created the Nobel Prize. -
Barbed wire is invented.
The American wild west was revolutionised by the simple invention of barbed wire. This allowed ranchers and cowboys to contain their land and keep it from animals such as wolves and coyotes. -
Thomas Edison invents the first incandescent light bulb.
Thomas Edison born in 1874 was one of the most successful inventors in the world. He experimented with thousands of different materials before finding the correct combination to make an incandescent light bulb. The bulb lasted for 40 hours without burning out. He eventually invented a bulb that lasted for 1500 hours. -
The guillotine was invented
The guillotine was invented by Frenchman Dr. Guillotine. Guillotine was part of a political group, but invented to guillotine to make executions in France more humane. Before this people had their limbs tied to four oxen and pulled apart. -
The Brooklyn Bridge was completed
After 13 years of construction the largest suspension bridge of the time was completed in New York. The Brooklyn Bridge was designed by John Roebling, Washington Roebling and David Steinman. -
The first motorcycle was invented.
The first ever motorcycle was invented in the late 19th century by German engineer Gottlieb Daimler. Daimler was born on March 17, 1834 in a village near Stuttgart, Germany. He gained factory experience at a young age and worked on the prototype of the bike for years until he finally affected them. -
The first automobile was invented
Karl Benz born in 1844 in Germany was the inventor of the first car. He and his wife founded the first ever petrol powered automobile company, Mercedes Benz. -
Coca Cola is sold to the public.
In May of 1886 Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton of Atlanta. His bookkeeper Frank Robinson suggested the name and also wrote the iconic logo of Coca Cola by hand. Until 1905 the drink contained cocaine. -
The invention of Basketball.
James Naismith was a Canadian physicist and the creator of basketball in 1891. The game was originally played by his students with 9 people per side and instead of rings and a net they threw soccer balls into peach baskets. -
The escalator is patented
On the 15th of March 1892 American inventor Jesse W. Reno patented his moving stairs or as he called it, the inclined elevator. The escalator was originally used in amusement parks starting with Coney Island. -
The zeppelin is invented
A German military officer named Fernando von Zeppelin invented a rigid framed airship, which he named after himself. During the zeppelin’s first ever flight it flew approximately 3.7 miles in 17 minutes. The zeppelin was used in World War 1 by the Germans.
