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Jethro Tull invents the seed drill
Jethro Tull was one of the first of the scientific farmers of the Agricultural Revolution who tried new agricultural methods. He oberved that the customary way of scattering seeds across the ground was in efficient because many of the seeds failed to take root. In 1701, Tull invented the seed drill to solve this problem, which allowed farmers to precisely sow seeds in well-spaced rows as it was pulled across the field. -
John Kay invents the flying shuttle
In 1773, a machinist named John Kay invented the flying shuttle, a boat-shaped piece of wood that carried threads of yarn back and forth when a weaver pulled a handle on the loom. This invention greatly increased a weaver's productivity, as it could double the amount of work done in a day. -
James Watt builds the first steam engine
James Watt, a mathematical instrument maker at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, wished to improve steam-powered pumps used by coal miners to remove water from deep mine shafts, which burned through too much fuel, making them expensive to run. In 1765, Watt solved the problem by building the steam engine, which worked more efficiently while burning less fuel. -
Marx and Engels publish The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx, a German journalist, partnered up with Friedrich Engels, a German whose father owned a textile mill, to write The Communist Manifesto. This was a 23-page pamphlet which summarized their beliefs. They argued that humans societies have always been divided into two opposing classses-the middle class/employers and the workers, predicting that the workers would overthrow the owners, and the capitalist system would eventually destroy itself and be replaced by communism. -
US Civil War ends; US experiences technological boom
In the early 1800s, the movement to abide by the Declaration of Independence and completely abolish slavery grew in the United States. The enslavement of African people finally ended with the Union's victory in the Civil War in 1865, supporting the new class of industrialists' advocacy of cheap laor instead of slave labor. -
Germany becomes dominant industrial power in Europe
Around 1835, Germany started to follow in Britain's footsteps - Germany imported British equipment and enginners, and manufacturers sent their children to England to learn about industrial management. Germany also started building railroads that linked iits manufacturing cities with the Ruhr Valley, as its coal and iron ore deposits were useful for industrialization. By the late 1800s, Germany had become predominantly urban and an industrial giant. -
British Unions win right to strike
As the British government saw unions as a threat to social order and stability, they denied workers the right to form unions for years. For example, the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800 prohibited unions and strikes, although they did little to stop the factory workers. In 1824, the Parliament repealed the Combination Acts and in 1875, the British trade unions officially won the right to strike and picket peacefully.
