1563

Rev. William Lee, born at Woodborough near Nottingham, invents the Stocking Frame, a mechanical device for knitting stockings.
Languedoc Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay. 240 miles long, with 100 locks, 3 major aqueducts, 1 tunnel, and a summit reservoir. The largest canal project between Roman times and the nineteenth century. Jethro Tull's mechanical (seed) sower permits large-scale planting in rows, for easier cultivation between the rows. Abraham Darby uses coke to smelt iron ore, replacing wood and charcoal as fuel. Thomas Newcomen builds first commercially successful steam engine. Able to keep deep coal mines clear of water. First significant power source other than wind and water. John Kay's flying shuttle. First threshing machine. James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens. Barges carry coal from Worsley to Manchester. James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny, automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth). Arkwright's "water" (powered) frame automates the weft. Bridgewater Canal extended to the Mersey, thus connecting with Liverpool. Its success kicks off extensive canal construction ("canal mania"). Watt's first efficient steam engine, much more efficient than the Newcomen. Grand Trunk Canal establishes a cross-England route connecting the Mersey to the Trent and connecting the industrial Midlands to the ports of Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull. First steam powered mills. Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process. Arkwright puts a Watt engine in the Albion cotton mill, Blackfriars Bridge, London.

1692

1708

1709

1712

1733 1758 1761

1765

1769

1772

1775

1777

1779

1786

1787 1789 1792 1793 17931803 1801 180322 1807 181115 1821 1825 182642 1827 1830 1831

Cartwright builds a power loom. Thames-Severn Canal links the Thames to the Bristol Channel. William Murdock (James Watt's assistant) lights his home with coal gas. Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton). Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys. Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive. Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen. Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat. Luddite riots: laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them. Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation, the principle of the electric motor. Marc Brunel invents a tunnelling shield, making subaqueous tunnelling possible. Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames. Berkeley Ship Canal connects Sharpness (on the Severn) to Gloucester. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins first regular commercial rail service. Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current, making possible generators and electric engines. Charles Babbage develops Fox Talbot produces photographs. his analytic engine--the forerunner of the computer.

1834

1837

Morse develops the Great Western--first ocean-going steamship.

telegraph

and

Morse

Code.

1838 1839 1843 1844 1846

Daguerre perfects the Daguerrotype. Fox Talbot introduces photographic paper. Great Britain--first large, iron, screw-propelled steamship.

Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).

Pneumatic First telegraph cable laid under the Channel. Monier develops reinforced concrete. Petrol (gasoline) refining Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford. Singer invents first Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge. practical first used. tire patented

1849

1850

1851

sewing

machine.

1853 1854 1855 1856 1857

Elisha Otis invents the elevator safety brake making skyscrapers possible Bessemer invents steel converter. Regius Chair of Technology founded at Edinburgh. W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes, permitting brightly colored cottons. Pasteur experiments with fermentation. First Cathode rays discovered. Trans-Atlantic Cable completed

1858

1859

Charles Darwin, The Origin Edwin Drake strikes oil Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine. Science degrees at University of London.

of in

Species. Pennsylvania.

1860

1863

Siemens-Martin open hearth process (along with the Bessemer converter) makes steel available in bulk. Steel begins to replace iron in building: steel framing and reinforced concrete make possible "curtain-wall" architecture--i.e., the skyscraper. Alfred Nobel produces dynamite, the first high explosive which can be safely handled. Christopher Sholes invents the James Clerk Maxwell states the laws of electro-magnetic radiation Bell invents the telephone. Edison invents the phonograph. Microphone invented. Edison invents the incandescent lamp. First skyscraper (ten stories) in Chicago. The Brooklyn Bridge opens. This large suspension bridge, built by the Roeblings (father and son), is a triumph of engineering. Maxim invents the machine gun, making possible mass slaughter and beginning the mechanization of warfare. Benz develops first automobile to run on internal- combustion engine. Hertz produces radio waves. Eiffel Tower. Rudolf Diesel invents his namesake. Lumire Roentgen discovers X-rays. brothers develop Cinematograph. Remington typewriter.

1867

1873

1876 1877 1878 1879

1883

1884

1885 1888 1889 1892

1895

1896

Marconi patents wireless telegraph.

1897 1899 1900 1901 1903 1908

Joseph Thomson discovers particles smaller than atoms. Aspirin invented. First Zeppelin built. Marconi transmits first trans-Atlantic radio message (from Cape Cod). Wright brothers make first powered flight. Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T.