The Most Important Inventions
of the Industrial Revolution
By
The
inventions and innovations of the Industrial
Revolution transformed the U.S. and Great Britain in the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Tremendous
gains in science and technology helped Britain become the world's dominant
economic and political power, while in the U.S. it fueled a young nation's
westward expansion and built vast fortunes.
A Revolution Twice Over
British
innovations harnessed the power of water, steam, and coal, helping the U.K.
dominate the global textile
market of the mid-1770s.
Other
advancements made in chemistry, manufacturing, and transportation allowed the
nation to expand and fund its empire around the globe.
The
American Industrial Revolution began after the Civil War as
the U.S. rebuilt its infrastructure.
New
forms of transportation such as the steamboat and the railroad helped the
nation expand trade.
Meanwhile,
innovations such as the modern assembly
line and electric light bulb revolutionized both
business and personal life.
Transportation
Water
had long been used to power simple machines such as grain mills and textile
spinners, but Scottish inventor James Watt's refinements
to the steam engine in 1775 launched the revolution in earnest.
Up
until that point, such engines were crude, inefficient, and unreliable. Watt's
first engines were used primarily to pump water and air into and out of mines.
With
the development of more powerful, efficient engines which would operate under
higher pressure and increased output, came newer, better forms of
transportation.
Robert Fulton was
an engineer and inventor who had become fascinated with Watt's engine
while living in France at the turn of the 19th century.
After
several years of experimenting in Paris, he returned to the U.S. and launched
the Clermont in 1807 on the Hudson River in New York.
It was
the first commercially viable steamboat line in the nation.
As the
nation's rivers began opening to navigation, commerce expanded along with the
population.
Another
new form of transportation, the railroad, also relied on steam power to drive
the locomotives.
First
in Britain and then in the U.S., rail lines began appearing in the 1820s. By
1869, the first
transcontinental rail line linked the coasts.
If the
19th century belonged to steam, the 20th century belonged to the internal
combustion engine.
American
inventor George Brayton, working on earlier innovations, developed the first
liquid-fueled internal combustion engine in 1872.
During
the next two decades, German engineers including Karl Benz and Rudolf Diesel
would make further innovations.
By the
time Henry Ford unveiled his Model T car in
1908, the internal combustion engine was poised to transform not just the nation's
transportation system but also spur 20th-century industries like petroleum and
aviation.
Communication
As the
populations of both the U.K. and the U.S. expanded in the 1800s and America's
boundaries pushed westward, new forms of communication that could cover great
distances were invented to keep pace with this growth.
One of
the first significant inventions was the telegraph, perfected by Samuel Morse.
He
developed a series of dots and dashes that could be transmitted electrically in
1836; they came to be known as Morse Code, though it wouldn't be until 1844
that the first
telegraph service opened, between Baltimore and Washington,
D.C.
As the
rail system expanded in the U.S., the telegraph followed along, literally. Rail
depots doubled as telegraph stations, bringing news to the far-flung frontier.
Telegraph
signals began flowing between the U.S. and the U.K. in 1866 with Cyrus Field's
first permanent transatlantic telegraph line.
The
following decade, Scottish inventor Alexander Graham
Bell, working in the U.S. with Thomas Watson, patented the telephone
in 1876.
Thomas
Edison, who made a number of discoveries and innovations during the 1800s,
contributed to the communications revolution by inventing the
phonograph in 1876.
The
device used paper cylinders coated with wax to record sound. Records were first
made of metal and later shellac.
In
Italy, Enrico Marconi made his first successful radio wave transmission in
1895, paving the way for the radio to be invented in the next century.
Industry
In
1794, the American industrialist Eli Whitney invented
the cotton gin.
This
device mechanized the process of removing seeds from cotton, something that had
previously been done largely by hand.
But
what made Whitney's invention particularly special was its use of
interchangeable parts. If one part broke, it could be easily replaced by
another inexpensive, mass-produced copy. This made processing cotton cheaper,
in turn creating new markets and wealth.
Elijah McCoy,
a mechanical engineer, filed more than 50 patents for various industrial
inventions.
Although
he did not invent the sewing machine,
Elias Howe's refinements and patent in 1844 perfected the device. Working with
Isaac Singer, Howe marketed the device to manufacturers and later consumers.
The
machine allowed for the mass production of clothing, expanding the nation's
textile industry.
It also
made housework easier and allowed the growing middle class to indulge in
hobbies like fashion.
But
factory work — and home life — still were dependent upon sunlight and
lamplight.
It
wasn't until electricity began being harnessed for commercial purposes that
industry truly was revolutionized.
Thomas
Edison's invention of the
electric light bulb in 1879 became the means by which large
factories could be illuminated, extending shifts and increasing manufacturing
output.
It also
spurred the creation of the nation's electrical grid, into which the many
inventions of the 20th century from TVs to PCs would eventually plug.
Person |
Invention |
Date |
James Watt |
First reliable steam engine |
1775 |
Eli Whitney |
Cotton gin |
1793 |
Robert Fulton |
Regular steamboat service on the Hudson River |
1807 |
Samuel F.B. Morse |
Telegraph |
1836 |
Elias Howe |
Sewing machine |
1844 |
Isaac Singer |
Improves and markets Howe's sewing machine |
1851 |
Cyrus Field |
Transatlantic cable |
1866 |
Alexander Graham Bell |
Telephone |
1876 |
Thomas Edison |
Phonograph |
1877 |
Induction electric motor |
1888 |
|
Diesel engine |
1892 |
|
Orville and Wilbur Wright |
1903 |
|
Model T Ford |
1908 |
Martin Kelly
History Expert
Education
M.A., History, University of Florida
B.A., History, University of Florida
Introduction
History teacher
Online course developer
Author of two books on American history
Experience
Martin H. Kelly wrote about American
history for over 15 years for ThoughtCo. A secondary school social studies teacher
for over a decade, he was also director of curriculum for the Florida Virtual
School, and developed an Advance Placement American history course there.
Currently, he is instructional design services manager in Tampa, Fla., for
Pamoja Education, a UK-based educational technology company.
Education
Martin Kelly holds a bachelor's
degree in history with a classics minor and a master's degree from the
University of Florida.
Publications
"The Everything American Presidents
Book" (Everything, 2007)
"Colonial Life: Government"
(Routledge, 2015)
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https://www.thoughtco.com/industrial-revolution-inventors-chart-4059637
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