So here it is, a complete listing of all the main technological advancements to take place from 1563 - 1908.
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. Fox Talbot produces photographs. |
1837 | Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code. Great Western--first ocean-going steamship. |
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 First telegraph cable laid under the Channel. |
1849 | Monier develops reinforced concrete. |
1850 | Petrol (gasoline) refining first used. Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford. |
1851 | Singer invents first practical sewing machine. Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge. |
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 Cathode rays discovered. |
1859 | Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania. Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine. |
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. James Clerk Maxwell states the laws of electro-magnetic radiation |
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. The Brooklyn Bridge opens. This large suspension bridge, built by the Roeblings (father and son), is a triumph of engineering. |
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. Roentgen discovers X-rays. |
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. |
Citation:
1. National University of Singapore 2010, The Industrial Revolution: A timeline (2010), Singapore, viewed, 30th August 2010.
< http://www.victorianweb.org/technology/ir/irchron.html>
Pretty impressive blog Andrew. You've played around with your options and taken some design risks with mixed success. Love your images and your content is excellent. Some of the type is difficult to read over the background images and although it's a valid inclusion, I'm not sure how well the timeline works aesthetically. I'm really lokling forward to seeing whare you go with this!
ReplyDeleteLinda