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Samuel Johnson publishes the first English language dictionary on April 15th after nine years of writing
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John Dollard invents the chromatic lens
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John Harrison invents the navigational clock or marine chronometer for measuring longitude
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Hames Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny
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Georges Louis Le Sage patents the electric telegraph
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Alexander Cummings invents the flush toilet
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Samuel Compton invents the spinning mule, used to spin cotton
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Benjamin Franklin invents the bi-focal eyeglasses
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John Fitch invents the first steamboat, initially propelled by Indian canoe paddles
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The guillotine was invented
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The United States issues its first patent to William Pollard, Philadelphia for a machine that roves and spins cotton
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Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin
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Edward Jenner creates a smallpox vaccination
