Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the shift from old industrial techniques to new ones in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States during the era from about 1760 to somewhere between 1820 and 1840 with in period from around 1760 to between 1820 and 1840. This transformation included the transition from manual production methods to machine production methods, the development of new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam and water power, the development of machine tools, and the rise of the mechanised factory system, to name a few aspects. The Industrial Revolution also resulted in an extraordinary increase in the pace of population growth, which continues to this day.

According to employment, production value, and capital investment data, textiles were by far the most important industry during the Industrial Revolution. In addition, the textile sector was the first to adopt contemporary manufacturing techniques.

The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain, and the country was responsible for many of the scientific and architectural breakthroughs that followed. By the mid-18th century, Britain was the world's leading commercial nation, commanding a global trading empire that included colonies in North America and the Caribbean, as well as significant military and political hegemony on the Indian subcontinent, particularly in relation to the proto-industrialised Mughal Bengal, thanks to the activities of the East India Company, which was based in London. The expansion of commerce and the emergence of business were two of the most important factors contributing to the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution was a watershed moment in history, with practically every element of everyday life being touched in some way or another during this period. Most notably, both the average income and the population started to see exceptional and persistent rise. Even though some economic historians consider that the most significant effect of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population in the western world began to rise consistently for the first time in history during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, others believe that it did not begin to improve meaningfully until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita remained relatively steady prior to the Industrial Revolution and the development of the modern capitalist economy, but the Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of an age of per-capita economic growth in capitalist countries. Economic historians believe that the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was the most significant event in the history of mankind since the domestication of animals and plants, and that the Industrial Revolution was the most important event in the history of the world.