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Industrial Revolution
1563 Rev. William Lee, born at Woodborough near Nottingham, invents the Stocking Frame, a mechanical device for knitting stockings. -
Industrial Revolution
1708
Jethro Tull's mechanical (seed) sower permits large-scale planting in rows, for easier cultivation between the rows. -
Industrial Revolution
1712
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. -
Hunter Gatherers
Starting at the transition between the Middle to Upper Paleolithic period, some 80,000 to 70,000 years ago, some hunter-gatherers bands began to specialize, concentrating on hunting a smaller selection of (often larger than had previously been hunted) game and gathering a smaller selection of food. This specialization of work also involved creating specialized tools, like fishing nets and hooks and bone harpoons. -
Hunter Gatherers
By 10,000 BC, humans had a range of technologies to aid them in their exploitation of the environment. The most fundamental of these was the ability to make and maintain fire. Fire played an important part in the mythologies of later societies - the Greeks told the story of Prometheus, the great benefactor of mankind, stealing fire from the gods. -
Hunter Gatherers
A Stone Age tribe in Central Europe maintained its hunter-gatherer way of life for 2,000 years after the arrival of farming, surprising anthropologists. The tribe in Central Europe ate almost exclusively freshwater fish until around 3000 B.C., -
21st Century
The 2000 presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore was decided in Florida by 537 votes after the U.S. Supreme Court ended recounts in the Sunshine State. The fight over the election increased rancor between the two major parties and also shined a spotlight on deficiencies in the nation's voting infrastructure. -
21st Century
Within a period of weeks in 2004, four major hurricanes hit Florida: Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan. The next year, Florida again was buffeted by Hurricanes Dennis and Wilma. The six hurricanes were responsible for more than three dozen deaths and left behind tens of billions of dollars in damages. In the long term, the hurricanes caused Florida to have the highest home insurance rates in the nation. -
21st Century
Space shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center and the landing strip at the Florida space center was to be the final destination for its seven astronauts before the spacecraft broke apart over Texas upon returning to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003. The Columbia disaster grounded the space shuttle program for 2 ½ years and forced NASA to implement new measures for inspecting shuttles for damage after launch. -
Agricultural Revolution
In 1750 farming was pretty much unchanged since Medieval times. This meant that: three-field system was used
crop yields were low
farming methods were inefficient
Now, we know that from 1750 onwards the population increased, requiring more food. This meant that new, more efficient ways of farming were required. -
Agricultural Revolution
After 1750, intensive enclosure of the land took place. Although enclosure had taken place before then, it really took off at this point. Parliament passed acts- over 4000 of them between 1760 and 1800- to bring about this increased rate of enclosure. In 1801 the General Enclosure Act made the process easier. -
Agricultural Revolution
Bakewell’s dishy Dishleys a more scientific approach to breeding animals developed. Farmers concentrated on selective breeding in order to produce animals with certain characteristics.
Robert Bakewell produced Dishley cattle and New Leicester sheep. These animals were larger and of better quality, meaning they produced more meat and milk (and hence, cold hard cash for the farmers!)
Better fertilisers and manures (lovely) became more widespread
