The Industrial Revolution By abralala 1701 Jethro Tull invents seed drill and horse-drawn hoe 1712 Thomas Newcomen invents the first productive steam engine 1733 James Kay invents the Flying Shuttle, a simple weaving machine 1755 Robert Blakewell produces Leicester sheep through selective breeding 1760 Agriculture influenced by enclosure of land and other innovations 1764 James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny 1780 Improved agricultural methods take effect across England 1784 Invention of the iron plough 1786 Andrew Meikle develops threshing machine 1788 two thirds of workers are children 1790 Rural families starve 1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin in the U.S. 1795 Food riots protest high bread prices 1797 Charles Newbold patents first cast-iron plow Period: 1799 to 1800 Parliament passes Combination Acts - trade unions made illegal 1811 Luddite rebellion begins 1819 Hundreds injured in Peterloo massacre 1830 Farm machinery damaged in Swing Riots 1833 First Factory Act passed, limiting children’s work 1834 Poor Law creates “poorhouses” for the destitute 1842 Mines Act bans girls, women and boys under 10 from working in mines 1848 Boards of health set up to ensure sanitation 1849 10,000 people die in three months in London from Cholera epidemic 1875 Public Health Act gives government responsibility to ensure public health for housing and sewage 1880 Education Act makes school compulsory for children up to age 10 1901 Factory Act raises minimum work age to 12 1905 236 million tons of coal mined in Great Britain
