istoryworld
Events relating to technology
The French scientist Denis Papin, while professor of mathematics at Marburg, develops the first steam engine to use a piston
The Russian tsar, Peter I, studies western European technology, working as a ship's carpenter in Dutch and English shipyards
Thomas Savery creates the first practical steam engine, designed to pump water out of mines
A maker of harpsichords in Florence, Bartolomeo Cristofori, develops the piano ('soft') and forte ('loud') feature which leads to the piano
Abraham Darby at Coalbrookdale discovers the use of coke in the smelting of pig iron
Thomas Newcomen creates a piston steam engine, with the steam condensed in the cylinder by a jet of cold water
Fahrenheit perfects the mercury thermometer and decides on a 180-degree interval between the freezing and boiling points of water
The British government offers a massive £20,000 prize for a chronometer capable of keeping accurate time at sea
The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land
General Wade, commander-in-chief of North Britain, begins an impressive programme of road construction in the Scottish Highlands
English maker of telescopes John Hadley designs the instrument which evolves into the standard sextant used at sea
John Kay, working in the Lancashire woollen industry, patents the flying shuttle to speed up weaving
Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius proposes 100 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water
Franklin publishes his design for an improved stove in Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire Place
Monsieur Passemont constructs in Paris a millennium clock which can record the date in any year up to AD 9999
John Harrison's fourth chronometer is only five seconds out at the end of a test journey from England to Jamaica
James Watt ponders on the inefficiency of contemporary steam engines and invents the condenser
Lancashire spinner James Hargreaves conceives the idea of the spinning jenny, with multiple spindles worked from a single wheel
Pierre le Roy's chronometer, as accurate as Harrison's and cheaper to construct, is set to become the standard model
French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully tests a steam wagon, probably the first working mechanical vehicle
English entrepreneur Richard Arkwright adds water power to spinning by means of the water frame
Two Boulton and Watt engines are installed, the first of many in the mines and mills of England's developing industrial revolution
The world's first iron bridge is assembled in a few months across the Severn at Coalbrookdale
Samuel Crompton perfects the mule, a machine for spinning that combines the merits of Hargreave's jenny and Arkwright's water frame
French paper manufacturer Joseph Montgolfier sends a hot-air balloon 3000 feet (1000m) into the air, in front of a crowd in Annonay
