The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century, the world's first transition from a mainly agricultural economy to a mainly industrial one. Improvements to the steam engine by James Watt powered new factories and pumped water out of deeper coal mines. Richard Arkwright's water frame mechanised cotton spinning. The Bridgewater Canal of 1761 showed how cheap bulk transport could connect mines, factories and ports.
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Railways followed. George Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825, and his Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. By the middle of the nineteenth century Britain produced more than half the world's coal, iron and cotton cloth. Towns such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Sheffield grew rapidly; living conditions for many workers were poor.
You may be asked who improved the steam engine (James Watt), which engineer pioneered passenger railways (George Stephenson), or which industries grew fastest in the Industrial Revolution.
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