Jethro Tull (1708)'s mechanical seed drill
Helped plant crops
Michael Faraday (1831)'s discovery of electromagnetic currents
Made generators and electrical engines possible
Hiram Maxim's machine gun (1884)
Mass slaughter is now possible, begins mechanization of warfare. Unfortunately, as some predicted, his machine gun did not prevent war — people still fought, despite these monsters being on the battlefield.
Cathode rays discovered
1858
cars go vroom
Made communicating across long distances much easier, but such conversations still had to be done in public, etc.,
George Stephenson's Rocket, 1829, would lead to great railroad infrastructure, which helped with city planning, made moving to the city easier, and made trade and large-scale commerce much better. For example, now placing factories in population centers made more sense. (I barely understand why myself, but okay)
Began the first regular commercial rail service
James Watt's efficient steam engine (1765)
First skyscraper (10 stories tall) (in Chicago)
1883
First transatlantic cable completed
1858
William Murdock's cool thing he did (1792)
John Kay (1733)'s flying shuttle
Tremendously helped with making weaving easier, used in the putting-out industry at first.
Large suspension bridge, "triumph of engineering."
Under the Thames
Samuel F. B. Morse's telegraph and Morse Code (1837)
Thomas Alva Edison's phonograph (1877)
Thomas Newcomen (1712)'s steam engine
First commercially successful (though kind of clumsy) steam engine, used to pump water out of coal mines. Big deal, since we've just unlocked a new power source.
From Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Alfred Nobel's dynamite (1867)
Charles Babbage (1834)'s analytic engine
First ancestor of the computer
More efficient thread spinning
James Brindley (1761)'s Bridgewater Canal
Allowed for barges to carry coal from Worsely to Manchester
Robert Fulton (1807)'s Clermont
Early form of photography
Eiffel Tower (1889)
For the World Exposition in Paris
Cartwright's power loom (1787)
Crompton's "mule" + Spinning jenny and water frame fully automated weaving process. Yeah.
Invented the incandescent lamp. Though he was, in general, prone to rude tendencies.
Singer's first practical sewing machine (1851)
Allowed for more sewing, including at-home
