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Jethro Tull invents seed drill and horse-drawn hoe
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Thomas Newcomen invents the first productive steam engine
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James Kay invents the Flying Shuttle, a simple weaving machine
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Robert Blakewell produces Leicester sheep through selective breeding
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Agriculture influenced by enclosure of land and other innovations
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James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny
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Improved agricultural methods take effect across England
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Invention of the iron plough
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Andrew Meikle develops threshing machine
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two thirds of workers are children
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Rural families starve
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Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin in the U.S.
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Food riots protest high bread prices
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Charles Newbold patents first cast-iron plow
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Period: to
Parliament passes Combination Acts - trade unions made illegal
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Luddite rebellion begins
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Hundreds injured in Peterloo massacre
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Farm machinery damaged in Swing Riots
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First Factory Act passed, limiting children’s work
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Poor Law creates “poorhouses” for the destitute
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Mines Act bans girls, women and boys under 10 from working in mines
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Boards of health set up to ensure sanitation
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10,000 people die in three months in London from Cholera epidemic
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Public Health Act gives government responsibility to ensure public health for housing and sewage
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Education Act makes school compulsory for children up to age 10
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Factory Act raises minimum work age to 12
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236 million tons of coal mined in Great Britain
