Tools & manufacturing · c. 1000

Spinning wheel

A wheel-driven spindle spins thread many times faster than by hand.

The spinning wheel appears in India by around 1000 CE and reached Europe by the 13th century. Faster yarn supply fed the growing medieval textile trade.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

The wheel 3500 BCE
Weaving and the loom 7000 BCE

What it led to 2

Spinning jenny 1765
Water frame 1769

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Output of key industries in England, 1270-1870 Latest: Coal: 3.77k index (1700=100) (1870) Source: Our World in Data