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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.
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John Kay's flying shuttle.
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First threshing machine.
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James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny, automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth).
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Watt's first efficient steam engine, much more efficient than the Newcomen.
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First steam powered mills. Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process.
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Cartwright builds a power loom.
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Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton).
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Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive.
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Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat.
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Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation, the principle of the electric motor.
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Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current, making possible generators and electric engines.
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Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code.
Great Western--first ocean-going steamship. -
Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).
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Petrol (gasoline) refining first used.
Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford. -
Elisha Otis invents the elevator safety brake making skyscrapers possible
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W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes, permitting brightly colored cottons.
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Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species.
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania.
Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine.
