Date | Event |
October 1879 | Thomas Edison uses a light bulb to light ... |
May 1883 | The Brooklyn Bridge opens. After 13 year ... |
December 1903 | Orville Wright makes the first powered a ... |
October 1908 | Henry Ford creates the Model T. Henry Fo ... |
Full Answer
What is the exact date for the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain. About 1764 James Hargreaves conceives the idea for a yarn-spinning machine called the spinning jenny (which he patents in 1770). Another influential innovation is James Watt ’s steam engine. In 1764, while repairing a Newcomen steam engine, Watt notices that it wastes a lot of steam.
When did the Industrial Revolution begin and end?
While the first phase of the industrial revolution, which took place between 1750 and 1850, began in England and then spread to Continental Europe and North America, the second phase of the industrial revolution, which took place between 1850 and 1914, began in America and then spread to Europe.
What was the timeline of the Industrial Revolution?
What is the timeline for the Industrial Revolution? The time period of the industrial revolution was 1750 to 1914. The industrial revolution occurred in two distinct phases: the first industrial revolution, between 1750 and 1850, and the second industrial revolution, between 1850 and 1914.
When did industrialization begin in America?
The beginning of industrialization in the United States is usually pegged to the opening of a textile mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1793 by the recent English immigrant Samuel Slater. He later built several other cotton mills in New England, and became known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution.”

What is the 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th Industrial Revolution?
The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production.
What are the dates of the Industrial Revolution?
1760 – 1840Industrial Revolution / Period
When did Industrial Revolution start and end?
The American Industrial Revolution, sometimes referred to as the Second Industrial Revolution, began in the 1870s and continued through World War II.
When did the Industrial Revolution start and when?
When Was the Industrial Revolution? Though a few innovations were developed as early as the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution began in earnest by the 1830s and 1840s in Britain, and soon spread to the rest of the world, including the United States.
What are the 5 industrial revolutions?
What Are the 4 Industrial Revolutions?First Industrial Revolution: Coal in 1765.Second Industrial Revolution: Gas in 1870.Third Industrial Revolution: Electronics and Nuclear in 1969.Fourth Industrial Revolution: Internet and Renewable Energy in 2000.
What are the 3 industrial revolutions?
With each of these three advancements—the steam engine, the age of science and mass production, and the rise of digital technology—the world around us fundamentally changed.
When was the 2nd Industrial Revolution?
between 1870 and 1914The second Industrial Revolution is usually dated between 1870 and 1914, although a number of its char- acteristic events can be dated to the 1850s. It is, however, clear that the rapid rate of pathbreaking inventions (macroinventions) slowed down after 1825, and picked up steam again in the last third of the century.
How long did Industrial Revolution last?
about 1760 to 1840The Industrial Revolution was the transition from creating goods by hand to using machines. Its start and end are widely debated by scholars, but the period generally spanned from about 1760 to 1840.
Why did the Industrial Revolution start?
The Industrial Revolution first began in Britain in the 18th Century and quickly spread around the world. Three reasons that led to the Industrial Revolution was the emergence of capitalism, European imperialism, and The Agricultural Revolution.
What was invented in the 2nd Industrial Revolution?
The most important inventions in the Second Industrial Revolution include the telegraph, the telephone, the modern lightbulb, the assembly line, the automobile, aircraft, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States.
Where did the Industrial Revolution start?
In the mid-18th century, in the Midlands of England, one of the most momentous transformations in world history began to unfold. The Industrial Revolution was the most profound technological development since the beginnings of agriculture 10,000 years earlier.
Why do they call it the Industrial Revolution?
Industrial Revolution, in modern history, the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. These technological changes introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed society.
When was the 2nd Industrial Revolution?
between 1870 and 1914The second Industrial Revolution is usually dated between 1870 and 1914, although a number of its char- acteristic events can be dated to the 1850s. It is, however, clear that the rapid rate of pathbreaking inventions (macroinventions) slowed down after 1825, and picked up steam again in the last third of the century.
What was the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century?
The Industrial Revolution was the transition from creating goods by hand to using machines. Its start and end are widely debated by scholars, but the period generally spanned from about 1760 to 1840.
Why did the Industrial Revolution start?
The Industrial Revolution first began in Britain in the 18th Century and quickly spread around the world. Three reasons that led to the Industrial Revolution was the emergence of capitalism, European imperialism, and The Agricultural Revolution.
What was invented in the 2nd Industrial Revolution?
The most important inventions in the Second Industrial Revolution include the telegraph, the telephone, the modern lightbulb, the assembly line, the automobile, aircraft, and the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States.
Where and when did the Industrial Revolution take place?
Historians conventionally divide the Industrial Revolution into two approximately consecutive parts. What is called the first Industrial Revolution...
How did the Industrial Revolution change economies?
The Industrial Revolution transformed economies that had been based on agriculture and handicrafts into economies based on large-scale industry, me...
How did the Industrial Revolution change society?
The Industrial Revolution increased the overall amount of wealth and distributed it more widely than had been the case in earlier centuries, helpin...
What were some important inventions of the Industrial Revolution?
Important inventions of the Industrial Revolution included the steam engine, used to power steam locomotives, steamboats, steamships, and machines...
Who were some important inventors of the Industrial Revolution?
Important inventors of the Industrial Revolution included James Watt, who greatly improved the steam engine; Richard Trevithick and George Stephens...
What was James Watt's first invention?
1769- James Watt was granted his first British patent (No. 913) for the unique design of his new steam engine. To quantify the enormous power of his new engines, James Watt also invented a new unit of measurement: The Horsepower.
When was the first train invented?
1804- The first locomotive railway journey took place in February, the Trevithick invention successfully hauled a train along a tramway in Merthyr Tydfil. 1811- The first large-scale Luddite riot took place in Arnold, Nottingham resulting in the destruction of machinery.
What was the combination act?
1799- The Combination Act received royal assent in July, preventing workers in England collectively bargaining in groups or through unions for better pay and improved working conditions. In the same year, on the 9th October a group of English textile workers in Manchester rebelled against the introduction of machinery which threatened their skilled craft. This was one of the initial riots that would occur under the Luddite movement.
How many Luddites were hanged in 1813?
1813- In a one day trial, fourteen Luddites were hanged in Manchester.
How many hours a day did women work in the textile industry?
1847- New law stating limited working hours of women and children in textile factories to ten hours a day.
What would James Watt's steam engines do?
James Watt’s steam engines would literally set the world in motion… through the introduction of steam powered railway locomotives and steam ships… transportation would be completely revolutionised. His steam engines would also go on to power the new mills that were starting to appear in the Industrial North.
Why was the Poor Law passed?
1834 – The Poor Law was passed in order to create workhouses for the destitute.
What was the first external combustion engine?
A late version of a Watt double-acting steam engine. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen made his atmospheric engine that was powered by steam and was used to pump flood water out of a mine. This was the first of its kind external combustion steam engine that used a piston.
What is the Bessemer process?
The Bessemer steel process is a classic example of military’s impetus to technological development. During the Crimean War in the 1850s, Henry Bessemer worked on the problem of manufacturing cheap steel for British Navy. He noted the effect of hot air blast in removing carbon impurities from iron. In 1855, he successfully produced a low-grade steel from molten pig iron in a side-blown fixed converter without any external source of heat. It was the first cost-efficient industrial process for large scale production of steel from molten pig iron. The Bessemer process would go on to achieve good low cost steel. It would change the face of the iron and steel industry and would be used widely for over 100 years.
What was the significance of the Battle of Plassey?
Apart from inventions, other watershed moments of the event include British victory over India in the Battle of Plassey which greatly aided in making Britain the textile producer of the world ; and Samuel Slater taking the closely guarded secrets of British designs to the United States leading to the American Industrial Revolution.
What was the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution was a period of major industrialization which moved the world away from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. The revolution began in Great Britain and then spread across the United States and the rest of the world. The driving force behind the Industrial Revolution was the inventions and innovations which continuously fuelled the event by providing better and better means to increase productivity, develop new processes and enhance distribution. Apart from inventions, other watershed moments of the event include British victory over India in the Battle of Plassey which greatly aided in making Britain the textile producer of the world; and Samuel Slater taking the closely guarded secrets of British designs to the United States leading to the American Industrial Revolution. Here is a timeline of the Industrial Revolution capturing its major events through the 10 most important dates which were crucial to its development.
What was the plantation that Eli Whitney landed on?
Massachusetts Yankee Eli Whitney, who was on a trip to the south for a teaching job, landed at the Mulberry Grove plantation due to some unexpected circumstances.
What was the first invention of the Industrial Revolution?
In 1781, Watt would patent a steam engine that produced continuous rotary motion, an invention that would be widely rated as the defining invention of the First Industrial Revolution. The steam engine was behind advanced inventions in textiles (power loom, spinning mule) and transport (steam powered locomotives and ships);
How many spindles did the Jenny have?
It was one of the first and key inventions of the First Industrial Revolution in Britain that powered its cotton textile industry. The Jenny initially had 8 spindles doing the work of 8 workers at a time.
How did cheap cotton textiles increase the demand for raw cotton?
Cheap cotton textiles increased the demand for raw cotton; previously, it had primarily been consumed in subtropical regions where it was grown, with little raw cotton available for export. Consequently, prices of raw cotton rose. Some cotton had been grown in the West Indies, particularly in Hispaniola, but Haitian cotton production was halted by the Haitian Revolution in 1791. The invention of the cotton gin in 1792 allowed Georgia green seeded cotton to be profitable, leading to the widespread growth of cotton plantations in the United States and Brazil. In 1791 world cotton production was estimated to be 490,000,000 pounds with U.S. production accounting to 2,000,000 pounds. By 1800, U.S. production was 35,000,000 pounds, of which 17,790,000 were exported. In 1945 the U.S. produced seven-eights of the 1,169,600,000 pounds of world production.
What was the major change in the iron industry during the Industrial Revolution?
A major change in the iron industries during the Industrial Revolution was the replacement of wood and other bio-fuels with coal. For a given amount of heat, mining coal required much less labour than cutting wood and converting it to charcoal, and coal was much more abundant than wood, supplies of which were becoming scarce before the enormous increase in iron production that took place in the late 18th century.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect the working people?
The Industrial Revolution concentrated labour into mills, factories and mines, thus facilitating the organisation of combinations or trade unions to help advance the interests of working people. The power of a union could demand better terms by withdrawing all labour and causing a consequent cessation of production. Employers had to decide between giving in to the union demands at a cost to themselves or suffering the cost of the lost production. Skilled workers were hard to replace, and these were the first groups to successfully advance their conditions through this kind of bargaining.
What are the factors that facilitated industrialization?
Six factors facilitated industrialization: high levels of agricultural productivity to provide excess manpower and food; a pool of managerial and entrepreneurial skills; available ports, rivers, canals and roads to cheaply move raw materials and outputs; natural resources such as coal, iron and waterfalls; political stability and a legal system that supported business; and financial capital available to invest. Once industrialization began in Great Britain, new factors can be added: the eagerness of British entrepreneurs to export industrial expertise and the willingness to import the process. Britain met the criteria and industrialized starting in the 18th century. Britain exported the process to western Europe (especially Belgium, France and the German states) in the early 19th century. The United States copied the British model in the early 19th century and Japan copied the Western European models in the late 19th century.
How did industrialization contribute to the growth of urban areas?
Industrialisation led to the creation of the factory. The factory system contributed to the growth of urban areas, as large numbers of workers migrated into the cities in search of work in the factories. Nowhere was this better illustrated than the mills and associated industries of Manchester, nicknamed " Cottonopolis ", and the world's first industrial city. Manchester experienced a six-times increase in its population between 1771 and 1831. Bradford grew by 50% every ten years between 1811 and 1851 and by 1851 only 50% of the population of Bradford was actually born there.
What was the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution?
Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and capital invested. The textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, and many of the technological innovations were of British origin.
How many steam engines were built in 1800?
A total of 1,454 engines had been built by 1800. Newcomen's steam-powered atmospheric engine was the first practical piston steam engine. Subsequent steam engines were to power the Industrial Revolution. A fundamental change in working principles was brought about by Scotsman James Watt.
How did industrialization affect the middle class?
Meanwhile, even as industrialization increased economic output overall and improved the standard of living for the middle and upper classes, poor and working class people continued to struggle. The mechanization of labor created by technological innovation had made working in factories increasingly tedious (and sometimes dangerous), and many workers were forced to work long hours for pitifully low wages. Such dramatic changes fueled opposition to industrialization, including the “ Luddites ,” known for their violent resistance to changes in Britain’s textile industry.
What were the major advances in communication during the Industrial Revolution?
The latter part of the Industrial Revolution also saw key advances in communication methods, as people increasingly saw the need to communicate efficiently over long distances. In 1837, British inventors William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patented the first commercial telegraphy system, even as Samuel Morse and other inventors worked on their own versions in the United States. Cooke and Wheatstone’s system would be used for railroad signalling, as the speed of the new trains had created a need for more sophisticated means of communication.
What was the British textile industry before the Industrial Revolution?
But prior to the Industrial Revolution, the British textile business was a true “cottage industry,” with the work performed in small workshops or even homes by individual spinners, weavers and dyers.
Why did Britain make more mechanized factories?
More efficient, mechanized production meant Britain’s new textile factories could meet the growing demand for cloth both at home and abroad, where the nation’s many overseas colonies provided a captive market for its goods. In addition to textiles, the British iron industry also adopted new innovations.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect Britain?
Though many people in Britain had begun moving to the cities from rural areas before the Industrial Revolution, this process accelerated dramatically with industrialization, as the rise of large factories turned smaller towns into major cities over the span of decades. This rapid urbanization brought significant challenges, as overcrowded cities suffered from pollution, inadequate sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water.
What innovations made weaving easier?
Starting in the mid-18th century, innovations like the flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, the water frame and the power loom made weaving cloth and spinning yarn and thread much easier. Producing cloth became faster and required less time and far less human labor.
Why did Britain expand its iron and steel industry?
This method was both cheaper and produced higher-quality material, enabling Britain’s iron and steel production to expand in response to demand created by the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) and the later growth of the railroad industry.
What was the first invention of the Industrial Revolution?
About 1764 James Hargreaves conceives the idea for a yarn-spinning machine called the spinning jenny (which he patents in 1770). Another influential innovation is James Watt ’s steam engine.
What was James Watt's invention?
Another influential innovation is James Watt ’s steam engine. In 1764, while repairing a Newcomen steam engine, Watt notices that it wastes a lot of steam. Watt develops a way to improve the Newcomen machine and in 1769 receives a patent for his own steam engine , which will be widely utilized during the Industrial Revolution.
What happened in 1811?
1811–13. Social opposition to industrialization begins to arise. Luddites, people opposed to industrialization, attack factories in a number of towns across Great Britain, destroying textile machinery, which is displacing them.
What is an encyclopedia editor?
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. ...
When did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb?
1879–82. In 1879 Thomas Edison introduces the modern age of light when he invents the incandescent lightbulb. He later supervises the installation of the world’s first permanent commercial central power system, in lower Manhattan, New York. The system becomes operative in 1882.
When did Orville Wright fly?
Orville Wright beginning the first successful controlled flight in history, at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, December 17, 1903.
Who invented the spinning mule?
Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule, a machine used to spin cotton and other fibers, in 1779. It was improved by Richard Roberts, who patented an automatic mule in 1825.
When Was the Industrial Revolution in America?
Full-scale Industrialization didn’t occur in America until two textile manufacturers, Samuel Slater and Francis Cabot Lowell, introduced mechanized textile manufacturing to the United States in the late 1790s and early 1800s.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect the population of America?
The industrial revolution caused rapid urbanization in America, with people moving from the countryside to the cities in droves. In 1800, only 6 percent of the population of America lived in cities but by 1900, that number had increased to 40 percent. By 1920, the vast majority of Americans lived in cities.
What was the result of the War of 1812?
The War of 1812 led to a British blockade of the United States eastern coastline, which brought shipping and fishing to a halt. Cut off from the sea, Americans began focuses more heavily on manufacturing in order to make money and create the goods they couldn’t get through trade.
Why was the lack of government regulation good for business?
Business owners had full control of their companies without government interference . Although this was good for business, it created widespread environmental problems and poor working conditions.
How did railroads help the economy?
Railroads: Railroad networks in the U.S. promoted the growth of industries like coal and steel and sped up the transportation of goods to market thus encouraging mass production, mass consumption and economic specialization. Abundant Labor Supply:
What act prohibited American merchant ships from leaving for foreign ports?
The Embargo Act of 1807 prohibited American merchant ships from leaving for foreign ports and prohibited foreign vessels from carrying American goods out of American ports.
Why did railroads attract so many immigrants?
Railroad work also attracted a large number of immigrant workers to the United States which provide an abundant labor supply for growing businesses.
What is the purpose of the Restart project?
Projects like the RESTART project are being funded by the EU, aiming to involve the industrial sector in the transformation of VET systems to meet the need for digital skills consistent with the technological developments in industries.
What is necessary cookie?
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary.
Why do websites use cookies?
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities ...
What was the third industrial revolution?
Through the new technologies, the third industrial revolution oped the doors to space expeditions, research, and biotechnology.
What were the main points of the second industrial revolution?
Other important points of the second industrial revolution were the development of steel demand, chemical synthesis and methods of communication such as the telegraph and the telephone.
When did the Industrial Revolution start?
The first industrial revolution followed the proto-industrialization period. It started at the end of the 18 th century to the beginning of the 19 th. The biggest changes came in the industries in the form of mechanization. Mechanization was why agriculture started to be replaced by the industry as the backbone of the societal economy.
When did Industry 4.0 start?
Industry 4.0 started at the dawn of the third millennium with the one thing everyone uses every day—the Internet. We can see the transition from the first industrial revolution rooted in technological phenomena to Industry 4.0 that develops virtual reality worlds, allowing us to bend the laws of physics.
How did the Industrial Revolution affect the atmosphere?
The Industrial Revolution was powered by burning coal, and big industrial cities began pumping vast quantities of pollution into the atmosphere. London’s concentration of suspended particulate matter rose dramatically between 1760 and 1830, as this chart from Our World In Data illustrates. Pollution in Manchester was so awful that writer Hugh Miller noted “the lurid gloom of the atmosphere that overhangs it,” and described “the innumerable chimneys [that] come in view, tall and dim in the dun haze, each bearing atop its own pennon of darkness.”
What were the living conditions in the industrial revolution?
William Henry Duncan, a government health official in Liverpool, England, surveyed living conditions and found that a third of the city’s population lived in cellars of houses, which had earthen floors and no ventilation or sanitation. As many as 16 people were living in a single room and sharing a single privy. The lack of clean water and gutters overflowing with sewage from basement cesspits made workers and their families vulnerable to infectious diseases such as cholera.
What were the effects of the Industrial Revolution?
While the Industrial Revolution generated new opportunities and economic growth, it also introduced pollution and acute hardships for workers .
What was the worst negative effect of the Industrial Revolution?
University of Alberta history professor Beverly Lemire sees “the exploitation of child labor in a systematic and sustained way, the use of which catalyzed industrial production,” as the worst negative effect of the Industrial Revolution.
What did workers who came from the countryside to the cities have to do?
Workers who came from the countryside to the cities had to adjust to a very different rhythm of existence, with little personal autonomy. They had to arrive when the factory whistle blew, or else face being locked out and losing their pay, and even being forced to pay fines.
What happened to James Jackson?
Turner’s and Daniel Blackie’s 2018 book Disability in the Industrial Revolution describes a gas explosion at a coal mine that left 36-year-old James Jackson with severe burns on his face, neck, chest, hands and arms, as well as internal injuries. He was in such awful shape that he required opium to cope with the excruciating pain. After six weeks of recuperation, remarkably, a doctor decided that he was fit to return to work, but probably with permanent scars from the ordeal.
What did the working class eat in Manchester?
In his 1832 study entitled “Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes Employed in the Cotton Manufacture in Manchester,” physician and social reformer James Phillips Kay described the meager diet of the British industrial city’s lowly-paid laborers, who subsisted on a breakfast of tea or coffee with a little bread, and a midday meal that typically consisted of boiled potatoes, melted lard and butter, sometimes with a few pieces of fried fatty bacon mixed in. After finishing work, laborers might have some more tea, “often mingled with spirits” and a little bread, or else oatmeal and potatoes again. As a result of malnutrition, Kay wrote, workers frequently suffered from problems with their stomachs and bowels, lost weight, and had skin that was “pale, leaden-colored, or of the yellow hue.”

Overview
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power and water power, the …
Etymology
The earliest recorded use of the term "Industrial Revolution" appears to have been in a letter from 6 July 1799 written by French envoy Louis-Guillaume Otto, announcing that France had entered the race to industrialise. In his 1976 book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, Raymond Williams states in the entry for "Industry": "The idea of a new social order based on major industrial change was clear in Southey and Owen, between 1811 and 1818, and was implicit as early as Blake in …
Requirements
Six factors facilitated industrialization: high levels of agricultural productivity to provide excess manpower and food; a pool of managerial and entrepreneurial skills; available ports, rivers, canals, and roads to cheaply move raw materials and outputs; natural resources such as coal, iron, and waterfalls; political stability and a legal system that supported business; and financial capital available to invest. Once industrialization began in Great Britain, new factors can be added: the e…
Important technological developments
The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s, the following gains had been made in important technologies:
• Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by steam or water increased the output of a worker by a factor of around 500. The power loom increased th…
Social effects
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most of the workforce was employed in agriculture, either as self-employed farmers as landowners or tenants or as landless agricultural labourers. It was common for families in various parts of the world to spin yarn, weave cloth and make their own clothing. Households also spun and wove for market production. At the beginning of the Industrial R…
Industrialisation beyond Great Britain
The Industrial Revolution in Continental Europe came later than in Great Britain. It started in Belgium and France, then spread to the German states by the middle of the 19th century. In many industries, this involved the application of technology developed in Britain in new places. Typically the technology was purchased from Britain or British engineers and entrepreneurs moved abroad i…
Second Industrial Revolution
Steel is often cited as the first of several new areas for industrial mass-production, which are said to characterise a "Second Industrial Revolution", beginning around 1850, although a method for mass manufacture of steel was not invented until the 1860s, when Sir Henry Bessemer invented a new furnace which could convert molten pig iron into steel in large quantities. However, it on…
New Industrialism
The New Industrialist movement advocates for increasing domestic manufacturing while reducing emphasis on a financial-based economy that relies on real estate and trading speculative assets. New Industrialism has been described as "supply-side progressivism" or embracing the idea of "Building More Stuff". New Industrialism developed after the China Shock that resulted in lost manufacturing jobs in the U.S. after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. The move…