Industrial revolution cover photo

key events of the industrial revolution

  • Thomas Newcomen built the first steam engine

    Thomas Newcomen built the first steam engine
  • Britain’s first canal was opened

    Britain’s first canal was opened
  • The first cotton spinning factory was opened

    The first cotton spinning factory was opened
  • The first steam powered mill began operation

    The first steam powered mill began operation
  • Matthew Boulton and James Watt patented the first rotary steam engine

    Matthew Boulton and James Watt patented the first rotary steam engine
  • Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first steam locomotive

    Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first steam locomotive
  • The ‘Luddites’ began to destroy machines

  • Britain’s first passenger steam railway was opened

    Britain’s first passenger steam railway was opened
  • The first great cholera epidemic

  • Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire

  • First skyscraper was built in Chicago

  • Henry Fox Talbot produced the first photograph

    Henry Fox Talbot produced the first photograph
  • Telephone invented

    Telephone invented
  • Thomas Edison invents the lightbulb

  • Compulsory education for all children is introduced

  • Karl Benz invented the first automobile

  • Heinrich Hertz produced radio waves

  • Wireless radio invented

  • Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flight

  • Outbreak of World War I