The fun fact is a misnomer. Although various steam 'engine(s)' were designed earlier, it was James Watt's design and patent of the steam engine with a separate condenser (the walking beam engine) which was the catalyst for the beginning of the industrial revolution. It was however his partnership with Matthew Boulton which brought about the first industrial use. Matthew Boulton had a large existing manufactory near Birmingham (the Soho Manufactory) and was using a water wheel to power some of his processes, he saw in James Watt's invention the potential to extend the power of his manufacturing capacity. By partnering with James Watt in 1775 he brought the Scottish engineer to Birmingham and built an early design of the walking beam engine originally to pump water to make the water wheel more efficient. As the design of the engine became more refined and was capable of more power output it replaced the water wheel, initially in the world's first steam powered mint, but also to power other manufacturing processes.
This is the crux of the industrial revolution, the steam engine with a condenser powering a manufacturing process, and it was the foresight of Matthew Boulton in seeing and utilising the potential of the walking beam engine which changed the world.
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