When was the Industrial Revolution?
The Industrial Revolution began in Britain around 1760 and lasted until approximately 1840, though industrialization continued to spread globally throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. A 'Second Industrial Revolution' (c. 1870–1914) brought electricity, chemicals, steel, and the internal combustion engine. Together, they transformed humanity from agricultural to industrial civilization.
The Industrial Revolution's dating is less precise than that of wars or political events because it was a gradual transformation rather than a discrete event. Historians generally place the first Industrial Revolution between approximately 1760 and 1840 in Britain, with a Second Industrial Revolution following from roughly 1870 to 1914 — though industrialization as a global process continues to this day.
The first phase (c. 1760–1840) was centered in Britain and focused on textiles, iron, and steam power. The key innovations came in clusters: the spinning jenny (1764), the water frame (1769), James Watt's improved steam engine (1769), the power loom (1785), and the railway locomotive (1804). These technologies transformed cotton textile production, powered factory growth, and revolutionized transportation. By 1840, Britain's landscape had been fundamentally altered — factories, railways, canals, and industrial cities had replaced the pastoral landscape of a century earlier.
The Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1870–1914) was broader in both geography and technology. It spread industrialization to Germany, the United States, France, Japan, and Russia. New technologies — steel production (the Bessemer process), electricity, the internal combustion engine, chemical synthesis, and the telephone — created entirely new industries. Henry Ford's assembly line (1913) perfected mass production. This phase saw the rise of large corporations, modern banking, and global trade networks that made the world economy far more interconnected.
The dating matters because it helps us understand the pace and nature of the transformation. The first Industrial Revolution took generations to develop; its technologies were relatively simple and emerged from practical tinkering. The second was faster, more science-based, and more deliberately managed. Together, they represent the most fundamental change in the human material condition since the Neolithic Revolution — the transition from agricultural to industrial civilization.
Industrialization did not end in 1914, of course. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen continued waves — the electronics revolution, the digital revolution, and now the potential of artificial intelligence. But the period from 1760 to 1914 remains the foundational transformation that created the modern world.