Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

By ava.merz

  • The Submarine

    In England of 1620, Cornelius Drebbel, made the first submarine. It was composed of greased leather over wooden framework. It could only dive down to about 12 feet. It was propelled on or beneath the surface by 8 oars sealed through the sides with leather flaps. Drebbel demonstrated the submarine in the Thames River with James I.

  • The Cotton Gin

    In April of 1793 in Georgia, a man named Eli Whitney, invented the cotton gin in a time period of ten days! The cotton gin made harvesting cotton much easier. It aloowed a laborer to separate cotton from seeds with ease. Before the cotton gin, 1 pound of cleaned cotton was produced in one day. With the cotton gin, 50 pounds were produced in one day. With this new invention cotton became the dominant crop in the South, but it also prolonged slavery.

  • The Phonograph

    In July of 1877 in New Jersey, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. It all started when Edison created an impression on a piece of wax paper that could record sound. The phonograph was able to play back and record sound. To record something, you had to speak into a funnel-like mouthpiece of tinfoil. To play it back a needle and diaphragm would vibrate, sending back sound.

  • The Light Bulb

    On October 21, 1879 Thomas Edison demonstrated an incandescent light bulb with charred cottom thread sealed in a vacuum that could burn for many hours and glow. This inspired him to make his own light bulb. He demonstrated his light bulb in Menlo Park. He lit up his laboratory and half a mile of streets.