Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Industrial Revolution

Copperplate engraving of a spinning jenny textile machine, showing a large hand wheel, multiple spindles, and wooden frame used for woolen yarn production.

Diagram titled Spinning jenny showing an operator using a hand wheel to rotate a cord-driven roller, drawing and twisting fibers from multiple clamped rovings onto tilted spindles; numbered callouts trace the process from roving to thread.

rotative steam engine

Who really invented the lightbulb?

key-type Morse telegraph transmitter

Internal-combustion engine

How the McCormick reaper changed farming forever

Patent diagram for Jan Ernst Matzeliger's shoe-lasting machine patented in 1883

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Brian Duignan
Brian Duignan is a senior editor at Encyclopædia Britannica. His subject areas include philosophy, law, social science, politics, political theory, and religion.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Rick Livingston

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Added media.	Rick Livingston	Oct 30, 2026