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The steam engine is invented. It is not very useful yet, but the idea of using steam to make machines go will be important to the Industrial Revolution.
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The spinning jenny is invented. The machine spins more than one ball of yarn or thread at a time, making it easier and faster to make cloth.
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Eli Whitney creates a machine that makes it much easier to separate cotton seeds from cotton fiber.
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Samuel Morse invents the telegraph, which allows messages to be sent quickly over a wire. By 1860, telegraph wires stretch from the east coast of the United States west of the Mississippi River.
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People had to make their own clothes at home or pay someone else to sew them by hand. Now clothes can be made in large factories.
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Elisha Otis invents a safety break to prevent them from falling if a cable breaks, making people feel more confident about using elevators in tall buildings.
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Henry Bessemer invents a process for making steel out of iron. Having a way to make steel more quickly and more cheaply helps the production of building and leads to the growth of cities.
