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Thomas Newcomen develops steam-powered pump
Thomas Newcomen invented the internal-condensing jet for obtaining a vacuum in the cylinder and an automatic valve gear. By using steam at atmospheric pressure, he kept within the working limits of his materials. For a number of years, Newcomen’s engine was used in the draining of mines and in raising water to power waterwheels. -
James Watt improves the steam engine
The Watt steam engine was developed from 1763 to 1775. It was an improvement on the design of the Newcomen engine and was a key point in the Industrial Revolution. The separate condenser and rotary motion were the most important improvements. -
First Cencus is taken
The Census Act 1800 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which enabled the first Census of England, Scotland and Wales to be undertaken. -
Luddites attack machines
The Luddites were a group of English textile workers and weavers, as a form of protest they destroyed machinery. The group was protesting the use of machinery in a "fraudulent and deceitful manner" to get around standard labour practices. The workers worried that the time spent learning the skills of their craft would go to waste because machines would replace their role in the industry. So the attempted to halt progress of technology. -
Mines act bans children from working in mines
Mines and Collieries Act 1842, commonly known as the Mines Act of 1842, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It banned all girls and boys under ten years old from working underground in coal mines. -
Elias Howe invents the sewing machine
Many machines were invented, but most were a failure. Not until 1846, did an inventor succeed in doing for the sewing machine what Watt did for the steam engine, Stephenson for the locomotive, and Fulton for the steamboat. The inventor was Elias Howe. -
First message is sent via telegraph
The first telegraph was sent by inventor Samuel F.B. Morse on May 24 1844, over an experimental line from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. The message said: "What hath God wrought?" -
Louis Pasteur develops vaccines for diseases
His research showed that fermentation and disease was caused by microorganisms, this supported the germ theory of disease. In his ongoing quest for disease treatments he created the first vaccines for cholera, anthrax and rabies. -
Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
Alexander Graham Bell was able to help the inventions of other scientists after the money he made from the telephone. He also founded and helped finance the journal Science, today the premier American scientific journal, and the National Geographic Society. Did you know that Bell was not the first inventor to come up with the idea of a telephone. Antonio Meucci began developing the design of a talking telegraph or telephone in 1849. -
Henry Ford creates the Model T
The Americans live, work and travel were changed because of the Model T. It was the first car to be affordable for a majority of Americans. For the first time, an average could afford a car, not just the wealthy. More than 15 million were made. There were several body types for the Model T, a five-seat touring car, a two-seat runabout and a seven-seat town car. A choice of colours was originally available, but from 1913-1925 the car was mass produced in only one colour, which was black.
