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Between the 18th to the 19th century, the world saw three life changing revolutions. The American Revolution saw thirteen colonies combine to break free from the British Empire, joining to become the United States of America, and in France the supreme monarchy that had ruled for centuries buckled in three years during the French Revolution.

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C.

The Industrial Revolution started in the United Kingdom, from agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology amazing changes took place, in fact the impact was so great, it very soon began to spread into Europe then on to North America and eventually the whole world jumped on the bandwagon.

It could be said that the industrial Revolution was to make the greatest influence to everyday life of the people of this Earth, people began to earn more and along the increase of earnings came an increase in the population, in fact during this period the worlds average per capita income grew by more than one thousand and twenty four percent, the population by more than sixty four percent.

Until that time, man and labour helped by animals drove the economy, but now as machines began to replace manual labour the economy of Great Britain changed forever, the textile industries were the first to benefit with James Hargreaves's Spinning Jenny this apparatus reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn, with a worker able to work eight or more spools at once. This grew to 120 as technology developed, this was followed quickly by Richard Arkwright’s water frame and then the Spinning Mule, Richard Arkwright combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labour, and the new raw material cotton, he is accredited as the creator of the modern factory system, consequential cotton mills sprung up all over the north of England.

By 1775 James Watt patented the steam engine, at first it was used to pump out mines, but in1780 he improved his steam engine allowing it to be applied to power machines. The factories had a field day, allowing the likes of Richard Arkwright to develop semi-automated factories to a previously unimaginable scale. The Iron industry too was going through its own revolution with coke replacing charcoal; with the economy growing came more canals, improved roads and railways trade expanded with enormous momentum.

Model of the spinning jenny in a museum in Wuppertal, Germany

Manchester was given the name Cottonopolis because of the vast collection of cotton mills, factories and administration offices, the assembly line again improved and speeded up production, more people were employed and with the greater growth came even higher wages.

Publications describing the new technologies emerged such as Harris's Lexicon Technicum in 1704 and Dr Abraham Rees's Cyclopaedia in 1802–1819. The Royal Society of Arts in London and the Lunar Society of Birmingham published illustrated volumes and papers of new inventions, periodical magazines and journals about manufacturing and technology began to appear in the last decade of the 18th century

Later we were to see the development of steam-powered ships and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine.

Stephenson's Rocket 1829, the winner of the Rainhill Trials

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