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Samuel Slater, the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution," brings his first factory into full operation making British textiles. This is a picture of Slater's Mill.
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Eli Whitney files for a patent for his new invention that easily separates cotton from its seeds.
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Eli Whitney, already famous for his invention of the cotton gin, obtains a federal contract after displaying to the Congress his gun made of machine-made interchangable parts.
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Robert Fulton (along with politician Robert Livingston) builds the North River Steamboat (pictured), also known as the Clermont.
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On this date, Cyrus McCormick was granted a patent for "inventing" the mechanical reaper. This reaper was used to harvest grain.
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John Deere, who has recently moved to Illinois, invents the first successful steel plow. This plow could cut thorugh hard soil.
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President Matin Van Buren (pictured) issued an executive order that all federal employees would only have a 10-hour workday. This set the precedent after so many workers in America were oppressed by the long hours that the American factory system incurred.
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Samuel F. B. Morse transmitts his first telegraph, "What hath God wrought?", from Washington to Baltimore.
Samuel F. B. Morse was also co-inventor of the Morse Code. -
Elias Howe is awarded a patent for his invention of the first practical sewing machine.
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On this date, Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his improvements to the sewing machine.
Singer went on to establish the Singer Sewing Company, that mass-produced sewing machines.
