What is Richard Arkwright?
[[File:Arkwright Richard 1790.jpg|thumb|270px|Richard Arkwright]] '''Sir Richard Arkwright''' (3 January 1733 – 3 August 1792) was an [[English people|English]] [[inventor]] and a leading [[entrepreneur]] during the early [[Industrial Revolution]]. He invented the [[spinning frame]]. This was later called the [[water frame]] after the change to [[Hydropower|water power]]. Arkwright patented the technology in 1767.<ref>Richard L. Hills 1979. Hargreaves, Arkwright and Crompton. Why three inventors?. ''Textile history'' '''10''' 1 : 114-126.</ref> A self-made man, Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, and semi-skilled labour. In the new [[cotton]] industry, this created mass production more than a century before [[Henry Ford]]. Arkwright had great mechanical abilities and a genius for organisation. This made him, more than anyone else, the creator of the modern factory system. The water frame is still used today. Arkwright was born in [[Preston]], [[Lancashire]], [[England]] and died in [[Cromford]], [[Derbyshire]] at the age of 59. == References == {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkwright, Richard}} [[Category:1733 births]] [[Category:1792 deaths]] [[Category:English inventors]] [[Category:People from Preston, Lancashire]]