| ca. 1765 | 1829 |
| – Hargreaves invents spinning jenny; Arkwright creates water frame | – Stephenson introduces the Rocket, an early locomotive |
| 1769 | 1830s |
| – Watt patents modern steam engine | – Industrial banks in Belgium |
| 1775–1783 | 1834 |
| – American Revolution | – Zollverein erected among most German states |
| ca. 1780–1850 | 1842 |
| – Industrial Revolution; population boom in Britain | – Mines Act passed in Britain |
| 1799 | 1844 |
| – Combination Acts passed | – Engels publishes The Condition of the Working Class in England |
| 1802–1833 | 1850s |
| – Series of Factory Acts passed by British government to limit the workday of child laborers and set minimum hygiene and safety requirements | – Japan begins to adopt Western technologies; industrial gap widens between the West and the rest of the world |
| 1810 | 1851 |
| – Strike of Manchester cotton spinners | – Great Exhibition held at Crystal Palace in London |
| ca. 1815 | 1860s |
| – Industrial gap between continental Europe and Britain widens | – Germany and the United States begin to industrialize rapidly |
| 1824 | |
| – Combination Acts repealed | |