Timeline of clothing and textiles technology
Encyclopedia
Timeline of clothing
and textile
s technology
.
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
and textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
.
- PrehistoryPrehistoryPrehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
– spindleSpindle (textiles)A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...
used to create yarnYarnYarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
from fibreFiberFiber is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread.They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together....
s. - (unknown) – loomLoomA loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
. - c. 28000 BCUpper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
– Sewing needles in use at KostenkiKostenkiKostenki is a village located on western middle bank of Don River in Voronezh Oblast, Russia. It is known for high concentration of cultural remains of modern humans from beginning of Upper Paleolithic era....
in Russia. - c. 27000 BCUpper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
– Impressions of textiles and basketry and nets left on little pieces of hard clay. - c. 25000 BCUpper PaleolithicThe Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
– Venus figurines depicted with clothing. - c. 8000 BC – Evidence of flaxFlaxFlax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
cultivation in the Near EastNear EastThe Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
. - c. 6500 BC – Approximate date of NaalebindingNaalebindingNålebinding is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet...
examples found in Nehal Hemar cave, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. This technique, which uses short separate lengths of thread, predated the invention of knitting (with its continuous lengths of thread) and requires that all of the as-yet unused thread be pulled through the loop in the sewn material. This requires much greater skill than knittingKnittingKnitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
in order to create a fine product. - c. 6000 BC – Evidence of woven textiles used to wrap the dead at ÇatalhöyükÇatalhöyükÇatalhöyük was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BCE to 5700 BCE...
in AnatoliaAnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. - c. 5000 BC – Production of linenLinenLinen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
cloth in Ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, along with other bast fibers including rushJuncaceaeJuncaceae, the rush family, are a monocotyledonous family of flowering plants. There are eight genera and about 400 species. Members of the Juncaceae are slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous plants, and they may superficially resemble grasses. They often grow on infertile soils in a wide range...
, reedReed (plant)Reed is a generic polyphyletic botanical term used to describe numerous tall, grass-like plants of wet places, which are the namesake vegetation of reed beds...
, palmArecaceaeArecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
, and papyrusPapyrusPapyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
. - 4200 BC – Date of MesolithicMesolithicThe Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
examples of NaalebindingNaalebindingNålebinding is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet...
found in Denmark, marking spread of technology to Northern EuropeNorthern EuropeNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
. - c. 3000 BC – Breeding of domesticatedDomesticationDomestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...
sheep with a wooly fleeceWoolWool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
rather than hair in the Near East. - 200 BC to 200 AD – Approximate date of earliest evidence of "Needle Knitting" in Peru, a form of NaalebindingNaalebindingNålebinding is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet...
that preceded local contact with the SpanishSpanish colonization of the AmericasColonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
. - c. 200 AD – Earliest woodblock printingWoodblock printingWoodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....
from China. Flowers in three colors on silk. - 247 AD – Dura-EuroposDura-EuroposDura-Europos , also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 m above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today's Syria....
, a Roman outpost, is destroyed. Excavations of the city discovered early examples of naalebindingNaalebindingNålebinding is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet...
fabric. - 298 AD – earliest attestation of a foot-powered loom with a hint the invention arose at Tarsus
- 500 to 1000 AD – spinning wheelSpinning wheelA spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
in use in India.. - 500 AD -jia xie method for resist dyeingResist dyeingResist dyeing is a term for a number of traditional methods of dyeing textiles with patterns. Methods are used to "resist" or prevent the dye from reaching all the cloth, thereby creating a pattern and ground. The most common forms use wax, some type of paste, or a mechanical resist that...
(usually silk) using wood blocks invented in China. An upper and a lower block is made, with carved out compartments opening to the back, fitted with plugs. The cloth, usually folded a number of times, is inserted and clamped between the two blocks. By unplugging the different compartments and filling them with dyes of different colors, a multi-colored pattern can be printed over quite a large area of folded cloth. - 600 AD – Oldest samples of cloth printed by Woodblock printingWoodblock printingWoodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper....
from Egypt. - 1000's AD – Finely decorated examples of cottonCottonCotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
socks made by true knitting using continuous thread appear in Egypt. - 1275 – Approximate date of a silkSilkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
burial cushion knit in two colors found in the tomb of Spanish royalty. - 1562 – Date of first example of use of the purl stitch, from a tomb in Toledo, SpainToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, which allows knitting of panels of material. Previously material had to be knitted in the round (in a tubular form) and cut it open. - 1589 – William LeeWilliam Lee (inventor)William Lee was an English inventor who devised the first stocking frame knitting machine in 1589, the only one in use for centuries. Its principle of operation remains in use....
invents stocking frameStocking frameA stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589...
, the first but hand-operated weft knitting machine. - c. 1600 – The modern spinning wheel comes together with the addition of the treadle to the flyer wheel.
- 1733 – John KayJohn Kay (flying shuttle)John Kay was the inventor of the flying shuttle, which was a key contribution to the Industrial Revolution. He is often confused with his namesake: fellow Lancastrian textile machinery inventor, the unrelated John Kay who built the first "spinning frame".-Life in England:John Kay was born...
patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s the flying shuttleFlying shuttleThe flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It was patented by John Kay in 1733. Only one weaver was needed to control its lever-driven motion. Before the shuttle, a single weaver could not weave a fabric wider than arms length. Beyond...
. - 1738 – Lewis PaulLewis PaulLewis Paul was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill.-Life and work:Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury...
patents the draw roller. - 1758 – Jedediah StruttJedediah StruttJedediah Strutt or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelt it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed the production of ribbed stockings...
adds a second set of needles to Lee's stocking frame thus creating the rib frame. - 1764 – James HargreavesJames HargreavesJames Hargreaves was a weaver, carpenter and an inventor in Lancashire, England. He is credited with inventing the spinning Jenny in 1764....
or Thomas HighsThomas HighsThomas Highs , of Leigh, Lancashire, was a reed-maker and manufacturer of cotton carding and spinning engines in the 1780s, during the Industrial Revolution...
invents the spinning jennySpinning jennyThe spinning jenny is a multi-spool spinning frame. It was invented c. 1764 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England. The device reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn, with a worker able to work eight or more spools at once. This grew to 120 as technology...
(patented 1770). - 1767 – John KayJohn Kay (spinning frame)John Kay was a clockmaker from Warrington, Lancashire, England known for the scandal associated with the invention of the spinning frame in 1767: an important stage in the development of textile manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution...
invents the spinning frameSpinning frameThe spinning frame is an Industrial Revolution invention for spinning thread or yarn from fibers such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way. It was developed in 18th century Britain by Richard Arkwright and John Kay.-Historical context:...
. - 1768 – Josiah Crane invents the hand-operated warp knitting machine.
- 1769 – Richard ArkwrightRichard ArkwrightSir Richard Arkwright , was an Englishman who, although the patents were eventually overturned, is often credited for inventing the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. He also patented a carding engine that could convert raw cotton into yarn...
's water frameWater frameThe water frame is the name given to the spinning frame, when water power is used to drive it. Both are credited to Richard Arkwright who patented the technology in 1768. It was based on an invention by Thomas Highs and the patent was later overturned...
. - 1769 – Samuel Wise solves the mechanization of W. Lee's stocking frame.
- 1779 – Samuel CromptonSamuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry.- Early life :Samuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold, Bolton, Lancashire to George and Betty Crompton . Samuel had two younger sisters...
invents the spinning muleSpinning muleThe spinning mule was a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer...
. - 1784 – Edmund CartwrightEdmund CartwrightEdward Cartwright was an English clergyman and inventor of the power loom.- Life and work :...
invents the power loomPower loomA power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
. - 1791 – The Englishman DawsonDawson-People:*Dawson Roger Dawson, author of Secrets of Power NegotiatingFictional characters*Dawson, in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends*Dawson Leery, on the TV show Dawson's Creek...
solves the mechanization of the warp knitting machine. - 1793 – Samuel SlaterSamuel SlaterSamuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...
of BelperBelperBelper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England.-Geography:Belper is situated eight miles north of Derby and is centred in the valley of the River Derwent...
establishes the first successful cotton spinning mill in the United States, at PawtucketPawtucketPawtucket may refer to:* Pawtucket, Rhode Island* Pawtucket Falls , Lowell, Massachusetts* Pawtucket tribe* 2 ships named USS Pawtucket* Pawtucket Brewery, fictional brewery on the television series Family Guy...
; beginnings of the "Rhode Island System" - 1794 – Eli WhitneyEli WhitneyEli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
patents the cotton ginCotton ginA cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
. - 1798 – The Frenchman Decroix (or Decroise) patents the circular bearded needle knitting machine.
- 1799 - Charles TennantCharles TennantCharles Tennant was a Scottish chemist and industrialist. He discovered bleaching powder and founded an industrial dynasty.- Biography:...
discovers and patents bleaching powder. - 1801 – Joseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom , which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as computers.- Early life :Jean Jacquard’s name was not really...
invents the Jacquard punched card loomJacquard loomThe Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punched cards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row...
. - 1806 – Pierre Jeandeau patents the first latch needle (for using on knitting machine).
- 1813 – William HorrocksWilliam HorrocksSir William Heaton Horrocks KCMG, CB was an officer of the British Army remembered chiefly for confirming Sir David Bruce's theory that Malta fever was spread through goat's milk. He also contributed to the making safe of water, developing a simple method of testing and purifying water in the field...
improves the power loom. - 1814 – Paul Moody of the Boston Manufacturing CompanyBoston Manufacturing CompanyThe Boston Manufacturing Company was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, in partnership a group of investors known as The Boston Associates, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. Boston Manufacturing Company gathered many of their trade secrets from the earlier...
builds the first power loom in the United States; beginnings of the "Waltham System" - 1823 - Associates of the late Francis Cabot Lowell of the Boston Manufacturing CompanyBoston Manufacturing CompanyThe Boston Manufacturing Company was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, in partnership a group of investors known as The Boston Associates, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. Boston Manufacturing Company gathered many of their trade secrets from the earlier...
begin operations at the Merrimack Manufacturing CompanyMerrimack Manufacturing CompanyThe Merrimack Manufacturing Company was the first of the major textile manufacturing concerns to open in Lowell, Massachusetts, beginning operations in 1823.- History :...
at East Chelmsford, MassachusettsChelmsford, MassachusettsChelmsford is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 33,802. The Census Bureau's 2008 population estimate for the town was 34,409, ranking it 14th in population among the 54 municipalities in...
. In 1826, East Chelmsford becomes incorporated as the town of Lowell, MassachusettsLowell, MassachusettsLowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
, the first factory city in the United States. - 1828 – Paul Moody develops the leather belt and pulley power transmission system, which would become the standard for U.S. mills.
- 1830 – Barthélemy ThimonnierBarthélemy ThimonnierBarthélemy Thimonnier, , was a French inventor, who invented the first sewing machine that replicated sewing by hand.-Early life:...
develops the first functional sewing machineSewing machineA sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...
. - 1833 – Walter HuntWalter HuntWalter Hunt was an American mechanic. He lived and worked in New York state. Through the course of his work he became renowned for being a prolific inventor, notably of the lockstitch sewing machine , safety pin , a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax spinner, knife...
invents the lockstitchLockstitchA lockstitch is the most common mechanical stitch made by a sewing machine. The term "single needle stitching", often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch.-Structure:...
sewing machine but, dissatisfied with its function, does not patent it. - 1842 – Lancashire LoomLancashire LoomThe Lancashire Loom was a semi-automatic power loom invented by James Bullough and William Kenworthy in 1842. Although it is self-acting, it has to be stopped to recharge empty shuttles. It was the mainstay of the Lancashire cotton industry for a century....
developed by Bullough and Kenworthy, a semi automatic Power loomPower loomA power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...
. - 1842 – John Greenough patents the first sewing machine in the United States.
- 1847 – William MasonWilliam Mason (locomotive builder)William Mason was a master mechanical engineer and builder of textile machinery and railroad steam locomotives. He founded Mason Machine Works of Taunton, Massachusetts. His company was a significant supplier of locomotives and rifles for the Union Army during the American Civil War...
Patents his "Mason self-acting" Mule. - 1849 – Matthew Townsend patents the variant of latch needle which has been the most widely used needle in weft knitting machines.
- 1856 – William Henry Perkin invents the first synthetic dyeDyeA dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
. - 1856 – Jeacock of Leicester patented the tubular pipe compound needle.
- 1857 – Luke Barton introduces a self-acting narrowing mechanism on S. Wise's knitting machine.
- 1857 – Arthur PagetArthur PagetArthur Paget may refer to:*Sir Arthur Paget *Sir Arthur Henry Fitzroy Paget...
patents a multi-head knitting machine called "Paget-machine". - 1859 – RedgateRedgateRedgate or Red Gate may refer to:* Red Gate Software, a software company* Red Gate, a triumphal arch in Moscow* The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women , a South Korean filmPeople:* Elizabeth Redgate...
invents a warp knitting machine working with vertical position latch needles, called later as "Raschel machine" (named after the French actress Élisabeth Félice RachelRachel (actress)Elisabeth "Eliza, or Élisa" Rachel Félix , better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel , was a French actress....
). - 1864 – William CottonWilliam CottonWilliam Cotton may refer to:* William Cotton , American artist and playwright* William Cotton , Bishop of Exeter, 1598–1621* William Cotton , Governor of the Bank of England, 1842–1845...
patents the straight bar knitting machine named after him ("Cotton machine"). - 1865 – The American Isaac Wixom Lamb patents the flat knitting machine using latch needles.
- 1865 – Clay invents the double-headed latch needle which has enabled to create purl stitch knitting.
- 1866 – The American Mac Nary patents the circular knitting machine (with vertical needles) for fabrication of socks and stockings with heel and toe pouches.
- 1878 – Henry Griswold adds a second set of needles (horizontal needles) to the circular knitting machine enabling knitting of rib fabrics as cuff for socks.
- 1881 – Pierre Durand invents the tubular pipe compound needle.
- 1892 – Cross, Bevan & Beadle invent ViscoseViscoseViscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Viscose is becoming synonymous with rayon, a soft material commonly used in shirts, shorts, coats, jackets, and other outer wear.-Manufacture:...
. - 1889 – Northrop LoomNorthrop LoomThe Northrop Loom was a fully automatic power loom marketed by George Draper and Sons, Hopedale, Massachusetts beginning in 1895. It was named after James Henry Northrop who invented the shuttle-charging mechanism. -The Loom:...
: Draper CorporationDraper CorporationThe Draper Corporation was once the largest maker of power looms for the textile industry in the United States. It operated in Hopedale, Massachusetts for over 130 years.-Beginnings:...
, First automaticAutomatic- Technology :* Automatic transmission, or a car with an automatic transmission* Automatic firearm* Automatic watch* Automatic , a defunct American automobile company- Albums :* Automatic * Automatic...
bobbin changing weavingWeavingWeaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
loomLoomA loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
placed in production. Over 700,000 would be sold worldwide. - 1900 – Heinrich Stoll creates the flat bed purl knitting machine.
- 1910 – SpiersSpiersSpiers is the surname of several people:*Bob Spiers, British television director*Cyril Spiers, former English professional footballer and manager*Ronald I...
invents the circular bed purl knitting machine. - c. 1920 – Hattersley loomHattersley loomThe Hattersley loom was developed by George Hattersley and Sons of Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. The company had been started by Richard Hattersley after 1784, with his son, George Hattersley, later entering the business alongside him...
developed by George Hattersley and Sons. - 1949 – Heinrich Mauersberger invents the sewing-knitting technique and his "Malimo" machine.
- 1953 – First commercial polyesterPolyesterPolyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
fiber production by DuPont. - 1954 – Fiber reactive dyeReactive dyeIn a reactive dye a chromophore contains a substituent that is activated and allowed to directly react to the surface of the substrate. Reactive dyes have good fastness properties owing to the bonding that occurs during dyeing....
invented. - 1963 – Open-end spinning developed in Czechoslovakia.