The most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution
The top 3 according to 80 votes from people: Newcomen's steam engine (1712) · The spinning jenny (1764) · The flying shuttle (1733). (Updated Sep 15, 2019.)
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?
Top 12
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1
Newcomen's steam engine (1712)
The first practical steam engine, pumping water out of mines.
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2
The spinning jenny (1764)
James Hargreaves' machine spun eight or more spools at once.
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3
The flying shuttle (1733)
John Kay's shuttle doubled a weaver's speed.
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4
The water frame (1769)
Richard Arkwright's water-powered spinning machine and the first factories.
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5
Watt's steam engine (1776)
Far more efficient: it powered factories, ships and railways.
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6
The power loom (1785)
Edmund Cartwright mechanised weaving.
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7
Stephenson's Rocket (1829)
The locomotive that won the Rainhill Trials.
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8
The electric telegraph (1830s)
Messages across the country in minutes.
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9
The Jacquard loom (1804)
Patterns controlled by punched cards, an ancestor of computing.
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10
The spinning mule (1779)
Samuel Crompton combined the jenny and the water frame.
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11
The cotton gin (1794)
Eli Whitney's machine for separating cotton from its seeds.
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12
The Bessemer process (1856)
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.
Is something missing?
Comments (8)
Watt's engine has to be number one. Everything else on this list needed power from somewhere.
Newcomen did it first though, Watt just made it efficient
making something 4x more efficient is basically inventing it again lol
Bessemer process is so underrated. No cheap steel, no railways, no skyscrapers.
The Jacquard loom being an ancestor of computers is my favourite fact here. Punched cards in 1804!
cotton gin is an important invention but also a dark one, it made slavery more profitable in the US South
where is the sewing machine?? changed clothing forever
Stephenson's Rocket at Rainhill is such a great story. Imagine watching that race