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Newcomen Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen invents the first steam engine. It is not very useful yet, but the idea of using steam to make machines go will be important to the Industrial Revolution.Steam engines transfer the energy of heat into mechanical energy, often by allowing steam to expand in a cylinder equipped with a movable piston. In the Newcomen engine as the piston moves up and down a chain tied to an attached arm converts this motion vertical motion to a pump. -
Spinning Jenny
Invented in the 1760s by James Hargreaves, a handloom weaver from Lancashire, the spinning jenny was one of the first power spinning machines for cotton. Although still reliant on human operation, the spinning jenny greatly increased production speed. By turning a single wheel, the weaver could spin eight threads at once. Later improvements increased the number to eighty threads. -
Watt Steam Engine
In 1763 James Watt was sent a Newcomen steam engine to repair. While putting it back into working order, Watt discovered how he could make the engine more efficient. Watt worked on the idea for several months and eventually produced a steam engine that cooled the used steam in a condenser separate from the main cylinder. Watt continued to experiment and by 1782 had produced a rotary-motion steam engine. -
Cotton Gin
In 1793, just after the Revolutionary War, a young white man named Eli Whitney invented a cotton gin. It had steel teeth that caught the cotton fibers, and a system of pulleys to pull on the cotton. -
Telegraph
The Transmitter or Key serves to connect and disconnect the circuit at a given point on the line, and by so doing to transmit signals. It consists of a brass lever L, swung on pivots, and having on one end a button. When the message is sent, the operator permanently closes the circuit by springing to the left the lever, which brings into contact the duplicate platinum wires. -
Sewing Machine
The sewing machine promised a revolution in household labor. Dubbed'The Queen of Inventions" by Gody's magazine in 1860, the sewing machine offered women a relief from the countless hours and tedium of hand sewing. Early sewing machine manufacturers recognized this market potential and promoted their machines accordingly. The exorbitant cost of these early machines meant that they were well beyond the means of most American families.
