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Jethro Tull invents the seed drill
Jethro Tull was one of the first scientific farmers. He saw that the usual way of sowing seed by scattering it across the ground was wasteful. Many seeds failed to take root. Tull solved this problem with an invention called the seed drill in about 1701. It allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths. A larger share of the seeds took root, boosting crop yields. -
John Kay invents flying shuttle
In 1733, a machinist named John Kay made a shuttle that sped back and forth on wheels. This flying shuttle, a boat-shaped piece of wood to which yarn was attached, doubled the work a weaver could do in a day. John Kay's flying shuttle speedily carried threads of yarn back and forth when the weaver pulled a handle on the loom. The flying shuttle greatly increased the productivity of weavers. -
James Watt builds the first steam engine
The early model of a steam engine gobbled great quantities of fuel, making it expensive to run. James Watt, a mathematical instrument maker at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, thought about the problem for two years. In 1765, Watt figured out a way to make the steam engine work faster and more efficiently while burning less fuel. In 1774, Watt joined with Matthew Boulton, a businessman and entrepreneur. Boulton paid Watt a salary and encouraged him to build better engines. -
Marx and Engels publish The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx, a German journalist, and Friedrich Engels, a German whose father owned a textile mill in Manchester, outlined their ideas in a 23-page pamphlet called "The Communist Manifesto". In their manifesto, Marx and Engels argued that human societies have always been divided into warring classes. In their own time, these were the middle class employers and workers. While the wealthy controlled the means of producing goods, the poor performed backbreaking labor under terrible circumstances. -
US Civil War ends; US experiences technological boom
During the last third of the 1800s, the United States experienced a technological boom. As in Britain, a number of causes contributed to this boom. These included a wealth of natural resources, among them oil, coal, and iron; a burst of inventions, such as the electric light bulb and the telephone; and a swelling urban population that consumed the new manufactured goods. Also, railroads played a major role in America's industrialization. -
Germany becomes dominant industrial power in Europe
Pockets of industrialization appeared, as in the Ruhr Valley of west central Germany. Beginning around 1835, Germany began to copy the British model. They imported British equipment and engineers. German manufacturers sent their children to England to learn industrial management. Germany's economic strength spurred its ability to develop as a military power. By the late 1800s, Germany had become both an industrial and military giant. -
British Unions win right to strike
For years, the British government denied workers the right to form unions. The government saw unions as a threat to social order and stability. Ignoring the threat of jail or job loss, factory workers joined unions anyway. Parliament finally repealed the Combination Acts in 1824. After 1825, the British government unhappily tolerated unions. British unions shared goals of raising wages for their members and improving working conditions. By 1875, trade unions won the right to strike peacefully.