# The most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution

From Newcomen's and Watt's steam engines to the spinning jenny, the power loom and Stephenson's Rocket: the machines that turned workshops into factories. Which one changed the most?

- 80 votes · 12 items
- Sep 15, 2019 · H. King
- https://even.best/en/l/3101/the-most-important-inventions-of-the-industrial-revolution

## Top 12

1. **Newcomen's steam engine (1712)** (11 · ▲11 ▼0) — The first practical steam engine, pumping water out of mines.
2. **The spinning jenny (1764)** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — James Hargreaves' machine spun eight or more spools at once.
3. **The flying shuttle (1733)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — John Kay's shuttle doubled a weaver's speed.
4. **The water frame (1769)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Richard Arkwright's water-powered spinning machine and the first factories.
5. **Watt's steam engine (1776)** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Far more efficient: it powered factories, ships and railways.
6. **The power loom (1785)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Edmund Cartwright mechanised weaving.
7. **Stephenson's Rocket (1829)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — The locomotive that won the Rainhill Trials.
8. **The electric telegraph (1830s)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Messages across the country in minutes.
9. **The Jacquard loom (1804)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Patterns controlled by punched cards, an ancestor of computing.
10. **The spinning mule (1779)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Samuel Crompton combined the jenny and the water frame.
11. **The cotton gin (1794)** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Eli Whitney's machine for separating cotton from its seeds.
12. **The Bessemer process (1856)** (-2 · ▲2 ▼4) — Cheap steel in large quantities.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.