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Four Field System- Charles Townshend
Charles Townshend divided his fields into four sections, the first with wheat, the second with clover, the third with oats or barley, and the fourth with turnips. Using this 4 field system, Townshend's fields were able to be rested and improved upon, as clover and turnips replaced nutrients in the soil. And no fields needed to go unused. -
The Spinning Jenny- James Hargreaves
James Hargreaves himself was a spinner from a poor spinning family. He attempted to make the work of spinning cotton easier and ended up inventing the spinning jenny. The spinning jenny decreased production costs and encouraged the spread of textile production into factories, rather than at the home. -
The Water Frame- Richard Arkwright
Richard Arkwright invented the water frame with John Kay, which had the ability to spin cotton yarn more quickly and in vast quantities. Since the water frame required the use of water power large water wheels were constructed off of the mills. -
The Steam Engine- James Watt
James Watt invented the steam engine due to Britain's shortage of energy in the late 1700s. The steam engine was then put to use in several industries, it drained mines and made possible the production of more coal, it replaced water power in cotton spinning mills, and took the place of water power in floor mills. The steam engine was the industrial revolution's most fundamental advancement in technology. -
The Cotton Gin- Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin after being introduced to problems in cotton picking in the south. The cotton gin is a controversial invention, as it is often credited as one of the reasons slavery continued in the United States. After the American Revolution, slavery was on the downturn as it wasn't efficient to use slaves anymore. However, with the invention of the cotton gin, slavery came back into demand. -
The Battery- Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Volta invented the battery after his work inventing the electrophorus, a device that held an electrostatic charge and transferred it from one object to another. His study of electricity led to many leaps and bounds in the field. -
Jacquard Loom- Joseph Marie Jacquard
Joseph Marie Jacquard was able to simplify complex textiles were woven. He did this by using thousands of punch cards that were laced together, each row of punch cards corresponded to a row of textile patterns. The loom allowed for greater efficiency in the weaving process. It also led to the future development of computing technology. -
Stephenson's Rocket- George Stephenson
Stephenson's Rocket, developed by George and Robert Stephenson, was significant because it won the Rainhill trials, a contest to see the best locomotive design. Thus it became the primary locomotive used in the new Liverpool and Manchester railway. -
Morse Code- Samuel Morse
Samuel Morse began working with telegraphy in 1832. He worked out a relay system and improved upon it to create morse code, which was an electronic alphabet that could carry messages. It signaled the first time in human history that complex thoughts could be communicated at long distances almost instantaneously. -
Daguerreotype Photography- Louis Daguerre
Louis Daguerre was a French artist who wanted to capture the world around him, he created an early form of photography, the daguerreotype, which allowed people to capture the world around them, now available to all people, not just rich people who could afford paintings. -
Bessemer Process- Henry Bessemer
The Bessemer Process was the first inexpensive industrial process to produce steel. The key process in it is removing impurities from the iron by oxidation. Henry Bessemer's invention paved the way for better railways and modern cities. It also cut costs and allowed for more and better steel to be made. -
The Telephone- Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the invention of the telephone, which he was inspired to make with his partner Thomas Watson after helping to create the harmonic telegraph. The telephone allowed for worldwide improvements in communication. -
Light Bulb- Thomas Edison
Many know about Thomas Edison and the controversy surrounding him and the light bulb. While Edison did not create the idea of the light bulb, when he started working on the light bulb, they were expensive, short-lived, and unreliable. Edison was able to make the bulbs last for hours using a vacuum, which made the light bulb more practical and economical. -
The Gas Engine- Gottlieb Daimler
With help from his work partner Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler was inspired by the work of Frenchman Etienne Lenoir who had created a small engine, that unfortunately lacked efficiency. Daimler and Maybach were able to improve upon Lenoir's designs and in a period of 10 years, eventually were able to create a small, practical, low-powered engine. -
Wireless Telegraphy- Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Marconi used radio waves to be able to transmit signals over long distances, at first a couple of kilometers, and then as he improved upon it larger distances. This technology was used in wireless telegraphy and the radio.