1563- Rev. William Lee, born at Woodborough near Nottingham, invents the Stocking Frame, a mechanical device for knitting stockings.1692Languedoc 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.
1758First threshing machine.
1761James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens. Barges carry coal from Worsley to Manchester.
1765James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny, automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth).
1769Arkwright's "water" (powered) frame automates the weft.
1772Bridgewater Canal extended to the Mersey, thus connecting with Liverpool. Its success kicks off extensive canal construction ("canal mania").
1775Watt's first efficient steam engine, much more efficient than the Newcomen.
1777Grand 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.
1779First steam powered mills. Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process.
1786Arkwright puts a Watt engine in the Albion cotton mill, Blackfriars Bridge, London.
1787Cartwright builds a power loom.
1789Thames-Severn Canal links the Thames to the Bristol Channel.
1792William Murdock (James Watt's assistant) lights his home with coal gas.
1793Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton).
1793-
1803Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys.
1801Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive.
1803-22Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen.
1807Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat.
1811-15 Luddite riots: laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them.
1821Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation, the principle of the electric motor.
1825Marc Brunel invents a tunnelling shield, making subaqueous tunnelling possible.
1826-42Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames.
1827Berkeley Ship Canal connects Sharpness (on the Severn) to Gloucester.
1830The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins first regular commercial rail service.
1831Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current, making possible generators and electric engines.
1834Charles Babbage develops his analytic engine--the forerunner of the computer.
Fox Talbot produces photographs.
1837Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code.
Great Western--first ocean-going steamship.
1838Daguerre perfects the Daguerrotype.
1839Fox Talbot introduces photographic paper.
1843Great Britain--first large, iron, screw-propelled steamship.
1844Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).
1846Pneumatic tire patented
First telegraph cable laid under the Channel.
1849Monier develops reinforced concrete.
1850Petrol (gasoline) refining first used.
Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford.
1851Singer invents first practical sewing machine.
Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge.
1854Bessemer invents steel converter.
1855Regius Chair of Technology founded at Edinburgh.
1856W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes, permitting brightly colored cottons.
1857Pasteur experiments with fermentation.
1858First Trans-Atlantic Cable completed
Cathode rays discovered.
1859Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species.
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania.
Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine.
1860Science degrees at University of London.
1863Siemens-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.
1867Alfred Nobel produces dynamite, the first high explosive which can be safely handled.
1873Christopher Sholes invents the Remington typewriter.
James Clerk Maxwell states the laws of electro-magnetic radiation
1876Bell invents the telephone.
1877Edison invents the phonograph.
1878Microphone invented.
1879Edison invents the incandescent lamp.
1883First 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.
1884Maxim invents the machine gun, making possible mass slaughter and beginning the mechanization of warfare.
1885Benz develops first automobile to run on internal- combustion engine.
1888Hertz produces radio waves.
1889Eiffel Tower.
1892Rudolf Diesel invents his namesake.
1895Lumière brothers develop Cinematograph.
Roentgen discovers X-rays.
1896Marconi patents wireless telegraph.
1897Joseph Thomson discovers particles smaller than atoms.
1899Aspirin invented.
1900First Zeppelin built.
1901Marconi transmits first trans-Atlantic radio message (from Cape Cod).
1903Wright brothers make first powered flight.
1908Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T.
Courtesy of http://www.victorianweb.org/
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.
1758First threshing machine.
1761James Brindley's Bridgewater Canal opens. Barges carry coal from Worsley to Manchester.
1765James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny, automating weaving the warp (in the weaving of cloth).
1769Arkwright's "water" (powered) frame automates the weft.
1772Bridgewater Canal extended to the Mersey, thus connecting with Liverpool. Its success kicks off extensive canal construction ("canal mania").
1775Watt's first efficient steam engine, much more efficient than the Newcomen.
1777Grand 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.
1779First steam powered mills. Crompton's "mule" combines Hargreaves' and Arkwright's machines, fully automating the weaving process.
1786Arkwright puts a Watt engine in the Albion cotton mill, Blackfriars Bridge, London.
1787Cartwright builds a power loom.
1789Thames-Severn Canal links the Thames to the Bristol Channel.
1792William Murdock (James Watt's assistant) lights his home with coal gas.
1793Eli Whitney develops his cotton gin (a device to clean raw cotton).
1793-
1803Thomas Telford builds his two great iron aqueducts, over the Dee and the Cierog valleys.
1801Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive.
1803-22Caledonian Ship Canal cuts clear across Scotland via the Great Glen.
1807Robert Fulton's Clermont first successful steamboat.
1811-15 Luddite riots: laborers attack factories and break up the machines they fear will replace them.
1821Faraday demonstrates electro-magnetic rotation, the principle of the electric motor.
1825Marc Brunel invents a tunnelling shield, making subaqueous tunnelling possible.
1826-42Brunel builds the first subaqueous tunnel, under the Thames.
1827Berkeley Ship Canal connects Sharpness (on the Severn) to Gloucester.
1830The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins first regular commercial rail service.
1831Faraday discovers electro-magnetic current, making possible generators and electric engines.
1834Charles Babbage develops his analytic engine--the forerunner of the computer.
Fox Talbot produces photographs.
1837Morse develops the telegraph and Morse Code.
Great Western--first ocean-going steamship.
1838Daguerre perfects the Daguerrotype.
1839Fox Talbot introduces photographic paper.
1843Great Britain--first large, iron, screw-propelled steamship.
1844Commercial use of Morse's telegraph (Baltimore to Washington).
1846Pneumatic tire patented
First telegraph cable laid under the Channel.
1849Monier develops reinforced concrete.
1850Petrol (gasoline) refining first used.
Natural Science Honours School established at Oxford.
1851Singer invents first practical sewing machine.
Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge.
1854Bessemer invents steel converter.
1855Regius Chair of Technology founded at Edinburgh.
1856W.H. Perkin produces aniline dyes, permitting brightly colored cottons.
1857Pasteur experiments with fermentation.
1858First Trans-Atlantic Cable completed
Cathode rays discovered.
1859Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species.
Edwin Drake strikes oil in Pennsylvania.
Etienne Lenoir demonstrates the first successful gasoline engine.
1860Science degrees at University of London.
1863Siemens-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.
1867Alfred Nobel produces dynamite, the first high explosive which can be safely handled.
1873Christopher Sholes invents the Remington typewriter.
James Clerk Maxwell states the laws of electro-magnetic radiation
1876Bell invents the telephone.
1877Edison invents the phonograph.
1878Microphone invented.
1879Edison invents the incandescent lamp.
1883First 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.
1884Maxim invents the machine gun, making possible mass slaughter and beginning the mechanization of warfare.
1885Benz develops first automobile to run on internal- combustion engine.
1888Hertz produces radio waves.
1889Eiffel Tower.
1892Rudolf Diesel invents his namesake.
1895Lumière brothers develop Cinematograph.
Roentgen discovers X-rays.
1896Marconi patents wireless telegraph.
1897Joseph Thomson discovers particles smaller than atoms.
1899Aspirin invented.
1900First Zeppelin built.
1901Marconi transmits first trans-Atlantic radio message (from Cape Cod).
1903Wright brothers make first powered flight.
1908Henry Ford mass-produces the Model T.
Courtesy of http://www.victorianweb.org/
