Significant Inventors of the Industrial Revolution

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 worlds dominant economic and political power, while in the U.S. it fueled a young nations 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 Watts refinements to the steam engine in 1775 launched the revolution in earnest. Up until that point, such engines were crude, inefficient, and unreliable. Watts 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.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Robert Fulton  was an engineer  and  inventor who had become fascinated with Watts 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.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ As the nations 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 nations 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 Americas 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 wouldnt 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 Fields 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 Whitneys 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 Howes 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 nations 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 wasnt until electricity began being harnessed for commercial purposes that industry truly was revolutionized. Thomas Edisons 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 nations 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 ginInterchangeable parts for muskets 17931798 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 PhonographIncandescent light bulb 18771879 Nikola Tesla Induction electric motor 1888 Rudolf Diesel Diesel engine 1892 Orville and Wilbur Wright First airplane 1903 Henry Ford Model T FordLarge-scale moving assembly line 19081913