Inventions and Inventors of the 18th Century

Inventions and Inventors of the 18th Century The 18th century, also referred to as the 1700s, marked the beginning of the first Industrial Revolution. Modern manufacturing began with steam engines replacing animal labor. The 18th century also saw the widespread replacement of manual labor by new inventions and machinery. The 18th century was also part of the The Age of Enlightenment,  a  historical period characterized by a shift away from traditional religious forms of authority  and a move towards science and rational thought. The effects of 18th-century enlightenment led to the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution. The 18th century also saw the spread of capitalism  and the increased availability of printed materials. Here is a timeline of the major inventions of the 18th century.   1701 Jethro Tull invents the seed drill. 1709 Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. 1711 Englishmen John Shore invents the tuning fork. 1712 Thomas Newcomen patents the atmospheric steam engine. 1717 Edmond Halley invents the diving bell. 1722 French C. Hopffer patents the fire extinguisher. 1724 Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer. 1733 John Kay invents the flying shuttle. 1745 E.G. von Kleist invents the Leyden jar, the first electrical capacitor. 1752 Benjamin Franklin invents the  lightning rod. 1755 Samuel Johnson publishes the first English language dictionary on April 15th after nine years of writing.   1757 John Campbell invents the  sextant. 1758 Dolland invents a chromatic lens. 1761 Englishmen John Harrison invents the navigational clock, or  marine chronometer,  for measuring longitude. 1764 James Hargreaves invents the  spinning jenny. 1767 Joseph Priestley  invents carbonated water, or  soda water. 1768 Richard Arkwright patents the  spinning frame. 1769 James Watt  invents an improved steam engine. 1774 Georges Louis Lesage patents the electric telegraph. 1775 Alexander Cummings invents the  flush toilet.Jacques Perrier invents a steamship. 1776 David Bushnell  invents a submarine. 1779 Samuel Crompton  invents the  spinning mule. 1780 Benjamin Franklin invents  bifocal eyeglasses.Gervinus of Germany invents the circular saw. 1783 Louis Sebastien  demonstrates the first parachute.Benjamin Hanks patents the self-winding clock.The  Montgolfier brothers  invent the hot-air balloon.Englishmen  Henry Cort invents the steel roller for steel production. 1784 Andrew Meikle invents the threshing machine.Joseph Bramah  invents the safety lock. 1785 Edmund Cartwright invents the  power loom.Claude Berthollet invents chemical bleaching.Charles Augustus Coulomb invents the torsion balance.Jean Pierre Blanchard  invents a working parachute. 1786 John Fitch  invents the  steamboat. 1789 The  guillotine  is invented. 1790 The United States issued its first patent to William Pollard of Philadelphia for a machine that roves and spins cotton. 1791 John Barber invents the gas turbine.Early bicycles are invented in Scotland. 1792 William Murdoch invents  gas lighting.The first  ambulance  arrives. 1794 Eli Whitney  patents the cotton gin.Welshmen  Philip Vaughan invents ball bearings. 1795 Francois Appert invents the preserving jar of food. 1796 Edward Jenner develops the  vaccination  for smallpox. 1797 Amos Whittemore patents a carding machine.A British inventor named Henry Maudslay invents the first metal or precision lathe. 1798 The first soft drink is invented.Aloys Senefelder invents lithography. 1799 Alessandro Volta  invents the battery.Louis Robert invents the Fourdrinier Machine for sheet papermaking.