The Industrial Revolution
From the first steam engines to the factory system, the Industrial Revolution transformed Britain and then the world, replacing hand production with machine manufacturing.
Newcomen's Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen builds the first practical steam engine, used to pump water from coal mines — the technology that will power the Industrial Revolution.
James Watt Patents Improved Steam Engine
Watt's separate condenser makes steam power four times more efficient, enabling its use in factories and eventually transportation.
Arkwright Opens Cromford Mill
Richard Arkwright's water-powered cotton mill establishes the factory system — workers labor under one roof on a schedule rather than at home.
Adam Smith Publishes The Wealth of Nations
Smith's foundational work of economics argues for free markets and the division of labor, providing capitalism's intellectual framework.
Luddite Riots
Textile workers smash machinery they blame for unemployment and declining wages — the first organized resistance to industrialization.
First Public Railway Opens
The Stockton and Darlington Railway, using George Stephenson's locomotives, inaugurates the railway age that will transform transportation worldwide.
Britain Abolishes Slavery
The Slavery Abolition Act frees 800,000 enslaved people across the British Empire, though former slaveholders receive £20 million in compensation.
Mines Act Bans Child Labor Underground
Growing awareness of appalling working conditions leads to legislation banning women and children under 10 from working in mines.
Marx and Engels Publish The Communist Manifesto
The most influential political pamphlet in history declares that 'the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.'
The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace
London's Crystal Palace showcases the products of industrial civilization to six million visitors — Britain's industrial triumph on display.
Bessemer Process Revolutionizes Steel Production
Henry Bessemer's converter makes steel cheap and abundant, enabling railways, bridges, skyscrapers, and warships.
Marx Publishes Das Kapital, Volume I
Marx's systematic analysis of capitalism argues that exploitation is inherent in the wage-labor system and predicts capitalism's eventual collapse.