today on the ancestral findings podcast what were your ancestors doing in the 1770s
the 1770s were a decade of innovations inventions and political change in
the world and particularly in the british colonies in north america
which were experiencing revolutionary sentiment in the early part of the decade
your ancestors may have been affected by these things and at least probably knew about them
these are the highlights of the 1770s that your ancestors would have likely known about
the 1770s were a decade of new discoveries scientific breakthroughs and innovations that
were the prototypes of things we know today new lands were discovered and settled by europeans
theories on chemistry and politics took giant leaps forward the age of reason began
and its teachings continue to influence modern society today these are some of the highlights
of the decade that your ancestors may have known about experienced enjoyed or participated in
important discoveries james watt built a working prototype of a steam engine setting the stage for
the later development of steam engine technology and travel using it on both rivers and railroads
a smallpox epidemic occurred in new england but was then cured by the invention of the
first inoculation which later became the field of vaccines by edward jenner
captain james cook discovered the islands of south georgia and the south sandwich islands in
the atlantic ocean and claimed them in the name of great britain the discovery that the use of
rubber is an effective method to remove pencil marks from paper ushers in the era of erasers
this discovery was made by a british chemist named joseph priestley the manufacturer of
limoges porcelain was established in france nitrogen gas was discovered by scottish scientist
daniel rutherford hiller ruel a french scientist discovers yuria the marine chronometer was
invented by john harrison this invention won him the longitude prize a german cobbler named johann
birkenstock invents the first birkenstock sandals pre-revolutionary america the american revolution
officially began later in this decade the earlier part of the decade was a period of chaos in the
american colonies as revolutionary sentiment began to become more popular among the people
things like the boston massacre and the boston tea party took place in the early part of the 1770s
the first continental congress was called and the declaration of independence was
written and signed letting great britain know that the colonies intended to be an independent country
of their own this was something that had never been done before in the known history of the
world with a set of colonies not only rebelling against the mother country but setting up a new
government from scratch that was unlike any other government the planet had ever seen
it was a risky experience as the leaders of the movement could have been executed by great britain
if they lost the revolution but revolutionary sentiment was high in the colonies at this
time in history and it proved to be wonderfully successful other important things in the news
the iron bridge was built across the severn river in shopshire in england
it was the world's first bridge that was built totally out of cast iron it opened to traffic on
january 1 1781 about a decade after it was built the spinning mule was invented and perfected by an
inventor from lancashire in england named samuel crompton the bolton and watts smith with engine
was invented and brought into service it is now the oldest working engine on the planet thanks for
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