1563 | Rev. William Lee, born at Woodborough near Nottingham, invents the Stocking Frame, a mechanical device for knitting stockings. |
1692 |
Languedoc Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay. 240 miles long, with 100 locks, 3 major aqueducts, 1 tunnel, and a summit reservoir. The largest canal project between Roman times and the nineteenth century. |
1708 |
Jethro Tull's mechanical (seed) sower permits large-scale planting in rows, for easier cultivation between the rows. |
1709 |
Abraham Darby uses coke to smelt iron ore, replacing wood and charcoal as fuel. |
1712 |
Thomas Newcomen builds first commercially successful steam engine. Able to keep deep coal mines clear of water. First significant power source other than wind and water. |
1733 |
John Kay's flying shuttle. |
1758 |
First threshing machine. |
1761 |
James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens. Barges carry coal from Worsley to Manchester. |
1765 |
James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny, automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth). |
1769 |
Arkwright's "water" (powered) frame automates the weft. |
1772 |
Bridgewater Canal extended to the Mersey, thus connecting with Liverpool. Its success kicks off extensive canal construction ("canal mania"). |
1775 |
Watt's first efficient steam engine, much more efficient than the Newcomen. |
1777 |
Grand Trunk Canal establishes a cross-England route connecting the Mersey to the Trent and connecting the industrial Midlands to the ports of Bristol, Liverpool, and Hull. |
1779 |
First steam powered mills. Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process. |
1786 |
Arkwright puts a Watt engine in the Albion cotton mill, Blackfriars Bridge, London. |
1787 |
Cartwright builds a power loom. |
1789 |
Thames-Severn Canal links the Thames to the Bristol Channel. |
1792 |
William Murdock (James Watt's assistant) lights his home with coal gas. |
1793 |
Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton). |
1793- 1803 |
Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys. |
1801 |
Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive. |
1803-22 |
Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen. |
1807 |
Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat. |
1811-15 |
Luddite riots: laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them. |
1821 |
Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation, the principle of the electric motor. |
1825 |
Marc Brunel invents a tunnelling shield, making subaqueous tunnelling possible. |
1826-42 |
Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames. |
1827 |
Berkeley Ship Canal connects Sharpness (on the Severn) to Gloucester. |
1830 |
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins first regular commercial rail service. |
1831 |
Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current, making possible generators and electric engines. |
1834 |
Charles Babbage develops his analytic engine--the forerunner of the computer. |
1837 |
Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code. |
1838 |
Daguerre perfects the Daguerrotype. |
1839 |
Fox Talbot introduces photographic paper. |
1843 |
Great Britain--first large, iron, screw-propelled steamship. |
1844 | Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington). |
1846 |
Pneumatic tire patented |
1849 |
Monier develops reinforced concrete. |
1850 |
Petrol (gasoline) refining first used. |
1851 |
Singer invents first practical sewing machine. |
1853 | Elisha Otis invents the elevator safety brake making skyscrapers possible |
1854 |
Bessemer invents steel converter. |
1855 |
Regius Chair of Technology founded at Edinburgh. |
1856 | W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes, permitting brightly colored cottons. |
1857 |
Pasteur experiments with fermentation. |
1858 |
First Trans-Atlantic Cable completed |
1859 |
Charles Darwin, The Origin
of Species. |
1860 |
Science degrees at University of London. |
1863 |
Siemens-Martin open hearth process (along with the Bessemer converter) makes steel available in bulk. Steel begins to replace iron in building: steel framing and reinforced concrete make possible "curtain-wall" architecture--i.e., the skyscraper. |
1867 |
Alfred Nobel produces dynamite, the first high explosive which can be safely handled. |
1873 |
Christopher Sholes invents the Remington typewriter. |
1876 |
Bell invents the telephone. |
1877 |
Edison invents the phonograph. |
1878 |
Microphone invented. |
1879 |
Edison invents the incandescent lamp. |
1883 |
First skyscraper (ten stories) in Chicago. |
1884 |
Maxim invents the machine gun, making possible mass slaughter and beginning the mechanization of warfare. |
1885 |
Benz develops first automobile to run on internal- combustion engine. |
1888 |
Hertz produces radio waves. |
1889 |
Eiffel Tower. |
1892 |
Rudolf Diesel invents his namesake. |
1895 |
Lumière brothers develop Cinematograph. |
1896 |
Marconi patents wireless telegraph. |
1897 |
Joseph Thomson discovers particles smaller than atoms. |
1899 |
Aspirin invented. |
1900 |
First Zeppelin built. |
1901 | Marconi transmits first trans-Atlantic radio message (from Cape Cod). |
1903 |
Wright brothers make first powered flight. |
1908 | Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T. |
Last modified 3 March 2012;
Thanks to Mrs Jean Mellings for suggesting William Lee