-
Watt's steam engine, was the first practical steam engine, becoming one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. -
Newcomen's engine, or atmospheric steam engine, was invented in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen, advised by the physicist Robert Hooke and the mechanic John Calley, and was an improvement on Thomas Savery's engine. -
Edward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor who created the first power loom. -
The Jenny spinning machine was a spinning machine, invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves at Stanhill, near Blackburn in Lancashire, England. This device greatly reduced the labour required for the production of yarn, giving a single worker the ability to handle eight or more reels at a time. -
John Kay was an English inventor, best known as the father of the flying shuttle, a production tool he developed in 1733 that allowed cotton to be woven on a larger scale and at greater speed than by hand. The son of a wool manufacturer, Kay was the overseer of his father's mill when he was still a young man. -
was a machine used for spinning cotton and other fibres. They were used extensively from the late 18th century to the early 20th century in factories in Lancashire and elsewhere. -
He replace hand labour in the conversion of raw cotton to thread for weaving. -
Robert Fulton's steamboat was important because it made transportation and trade by the river more feasible. Before the steamboat, most trade/travel was done by wind-powered sailboats, whose speed depended on weather conditions and river currents. Most rivers travel north to south, making upstream travel agonizing. -
The original Luddites were British weavers and textile workers who objected to the increased use of mechanized looms and knitting frames. Most were trained artisans who had spent years learning their craft, and they feared that unskilled machine operators were robbing them of their livelihood. -
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Known as the 'Father of Railways', he pioneered rail transport with his invention of the modern steam locomotive and developed the first public inter-city railway line in the world during the 19th century. -
The first transcontinental railway in the United States is the name of a railway line across the United States that linked the city of Omaha, Nebraska, -
The first unification of Germany occurred after Prussia's victory in the Franco-Prussian War. In this unification, most of the German-speaking states of Europe united under the crown of Prussia to form the German Empire. The second unification occurred in 1990 after the end of the Cold War. -
Edison light bulbs, which are incandescent light bulbs of tungsten or carbon filament, or modern bulbs that replicate their appearance. -
The Belgian Congo was first colonized as the Congo Free State from 1885-1908, when the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 declared the Congo to be under the sovereign rule of King Leopold II. -
Otto von Bismarck created the Berlin Conference to settle disputes between the European powers. They divided the entire continent, including its resources and people. That brought Africa into the global economy through exploitation and violence. Languages and cultures were imposed ignoring local opinions.
The straight borders were made by Europeans without taking into account the nations that were in Africa. That also provoked fights between them. -
In architectural history, one structure stands as the leader of a new era—the Home Insurance Building. Completed in 1885 on LaSalle Street between Adams and Monroe, it holds the distinction of being among the world's first skyscrapers. -
Wilhelm II, the German kaiser (emperor) and king of Prussia from 1888 to 1918, was one of the most recognizable public figures of World War I (1914-18). -
The first motion picture ever shot was Roundhay Garden Scene, shot in 1888. Louis Le Prince dazzles the eye with a remarkable display of 4 people walking in a garden, creating this 2.11-second cinematic masterpiece. -
In 1895 Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi built the equipment and transmitted electrical signals through the air from one end of his house to the other, and then from the house to the garden. These experiments were, in effect, the dawn of practical wireless telegraphy or radio. -
It was the first confrontation between the British Empire and the Dutch or Boer settlers of Transvaal. It was triggered when Sir Theophilus Shepstone annexed Transvaal to the United Kingdom. The British consolidated their power over most of South Africa's colonies following the Anglo-Zulu War. The Boers protested at the fait accompli and a revolt broke out. -
The Fashoda affair was a climax of a series of territorial disputes in Africa between Britain and France, which took place in Fashoda, Egyptian Sudan. The disputes arose from the common desire of each country to unite their various colonial possessions in Africa. -
The Second Boer War was a conflict between the United Kingdom and the founders of the independent republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, in northeastern South Africa. It began with the British Crown's attempt to unite the two republics, rich in deposits of diamonds, gold and iron. -
The Boxer Rebellion was the culmination of Chinese discontent against the economic and political interference of foreign powers, especially European powers and Japan. -
The Wright Flyer was the first powered flying machine built by the Wright brothers. -
A key breakthrough came in 1907, when Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the first real synthetic, mass-produced plastic. -
In 1908, international pressure forced the king to turn the Congo Free State over to the country of Belgium. The newly named “Belgian Congo” remained a colony until the Democratic Republic of Congo gained its independence in 1960 -
enry Ford wanted the Model T to be affordable, simple to operate, and durable. The vehicle was one of the first mass production vehicles, allowing Ford to achieve his aim of manufacturing the universal car. -
The Agadir crisis or second Moroccan crisis was an international crisis that was about to trigger a war between France and the German Empire for control and influence over Morocco. -
The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. -
The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece. -
The Great War was the first major war that devastated Europe in the first half of the 20th century. It started on July 28, 1914 and ended in November 1918. -
World War I, also known as the Great War, was a global military conflict, although centred in Europe.