industrial revolution

Definition

Unprecedented technological and economic development that began during 1830s in UK and spread in varying degrees to the rest of Europe, US, and Japan. It replaced the animal and human power by mechanical power and transformed agriculture based economies to manufacturing based ones. It seeds lie in the invention (by Thomas Newman of UK in 1712) and development (by James Watt of UK in 1769) of steam engine which was first applied to mining and textile making operations. Industrial revolution shifted the balance of power from the landowning class to the entrepreneurial class, ended the domestic system of production, and created an urban working class. It is said to have ended by the middle of 20th century with the start of second industrial revolution based on communication and information technologies.