Industrial Revolution

A factory floor in Meiji era Japan, Japan was the first asian country to industrialize

The Industrial Revolution was a period during the late 18th and 19th century during which society was changed by large scale urbanization and the rise of factory-based, mechanized manufacturing, as well as radically affecting people's way of living. This was made possible by new technologies including the the spinning jenny, power loom, interchangeable parts, Bessemer Process and the steam engine, both as a means to power industrial equipment and to propel ships and trains. The Industrial Revolution was made possible by improvements in infrastructure and agriculture and the dawn of the scientific age during the Age of Enlightenment and started in Great Britain with the textile and ceramic industries. From there, industrialization spread into the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the Russian Empire over the remainder of the 19th century.