Throughout history, there have been certain time periods where advancements in technology have been so great that we characterize them as industrial revolutions.
However, the term Industrial Revolution has come to refer to the time from 1733 on that transferred Great Britain and eventually the United States and many European countries from rural villages into towns increasingly engaged in manufacturing and production. From Eli Whitney and the cotton gin to Henry Ford and his Model Ts, these sites trace the history of the Industrial Revolution and key innovators that helped it along.
Kid Info
Kid Info provides a nice background of the time period and offers links about inventors, business entrepreneurs, labor unions, and immigration information.