The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had an effect on the economic and cultural conditions in Britain. The changes spread throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point history. In the later part of the 1700s there occurred a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labor based manufacturing. It started with the mechanization of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways, and the introduction of steam power fuelled primarily ...more >>by coal. The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world. The impact of this change on society was enormous. The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, lead into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. The Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic growth in capitalist economies. Historians agree that the Industrial Revolution was one of the most important events in history. The most significant inventions had their origins in the Western world, primarily Europe and the United States. The causes of the Industrial Revolution were complicated and remain a topic for debate, with some historians believing the Revolution was an outgrowth of social and institutional changes brough