1: Steam Engine

An engine powered by steam was not a new idea when James Watt patented his own steam engine.  Watt's steam engine was a modified and improved version of Thomas Savery and Thomas Newcomen's (top left)  models.  

In 1763, Watt was sent a Newcomen engine to repair and discovered a way to make the engine more efficient.  He forged a partnership with a wealthy businessman named Matthew Boulton.  The result was the Watt steam engine which was manufactured and sold mostly to colliery (coal mine) owners due to its effectiveness at pumping water out of mines.  Watt's engine became very popular because it was four times more powerful than the Newcomen engine.  In 1781, Watt revised his engine, creating the rotary-motion engine.  This steam engine was capable of driving all kinds of machinery.  By 1800 there were 500 of Watt's steam engines in factories and mines in Great Britain and the number steadily increased annually.  

Richard Arkwright and others began buying these machines in droves to power equipment in their textile factories.  Watt's steam engine greatly increased productivity in factories, but workers argued that it removed jobs which were once available to them.  In addition, steam engines had a significant impact on the transportation industry. They provided power for steamboats and locomotives.  Many agree that water-powered steam engine was the foundation of life of the Industrial Revolution.  

Modern steam engines are still used today for electrical power generation.