By definition, the 19th century lasted from 1801 through 1900 according to the Gregorian calendar. It is also referred to as the "1800s." The invention of useable electricity, steel, and petroleum products during the 19th century lead to a second industrial revolution (1865–1900), that featured the growth of railways and steam ships, faster and wider means of communication, and inventions with names we all know today.
The 19th century was the age of machine tools - tools that made tools - machines that made parts for other machines, including interchangeable parts. The assembly line was invented during the 19th century, speeding up the factory production of consumer goods.
The 19th century gave birth to the professional scientist, the word scientist was first used in 1833 by William Whewell. Inventors began to design practical internal combustion engines. The lightbulb, telephone, typewriter, sewing machine, all came of age during the 19th century.
1800
- Frenchmen, J.M. Jacquard invents the Jacquard Loom.
- Count Alessandro Volta invents the battery.
1804
- Freidrich Winzer (Winsor) was the first person to patent gas lighting.
- Richard Trevithick, an English mining engineer, developed the first steam-powered locomotive. Unfortunately, the machine was too heavy and broke the very rails it was traveling on.
1809
- Humphry Davy invents the first electric light - the first arc lamp.
1810
- German, Frederick Koenig invents an improved printing press.
- Peter Durand invents the tin can.
1814
- George Stephenson designs the first steam locomotive.
- The first plastic surgery is performed in England.
- German, Joseph von Fraunhofer invents the spectrocope for the chemical analysis of glowing objects.
- Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was the first person to take a photograph. He took the picture by setting up a machine called the camera obscura in the window of his home in France. It took eight hours for the camera to take the picture.
1815
- Humphry Davy invents the miner's lamp.
1819
- Samuel Fahnestock patents a soda fountain.
- René Laënnec invents the stethoscope.
1823
- Mackintosh (raincoat) invented by Charles Mackintosh of Scotland.
1824
- Michael Faraday invents the first toy balloon.
- Englishmen, Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
1825
- William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet.
1827
- John Walker invents modern matches.
- Charles Wheatstone was the first person to coin the phrase microphone.
1829
- American, W.A. Burt invents a typewriter.
- Frenchmen, Louis Braille invents braille printing for the blind. William Austin Burt patents a typographer, a predecessor to the typewriter.
1830
- Frenchmen, Barthelemy Thimonnier invents a sewing machine.
1831
- American, Cyrus McCormick invents the first commercially successful reaper.
- Michael Faraday invents a electric dynamo.
1832
- The first patented stereoscope was invented by Charles Wheatstone in 1832 and patented in 1838.
