JAMES WATT TIMELINE
19th Jan 1736
James was born on 19 January, 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire to Agnes Muirhead, a well educated women and her husband, James Watt, who was a shipwright and contractor with a well established business. He had a brother, John, who died at an early age.
1754
In 1754, he went to Glasgow and got acquainted with Robert Dick through one of his relatives working at Glasgow University. Robert encouraged him to master the skill of instrument making by working as an apprentice in London.
1755
In 1755, he met John Morgan, an instrument maker who agreed to teach him the art of instrument making with a little pay. He worked for long hours continuously in the cold workshop, due to which his health declined. His abilities surpassed John’s other apprentices and he was able to complete his tenure in one year, which normally extended up to seven years.
1756
After his training, he returned to Glasgow in 1756 to start his own business of mathematical instrument making, but faced opposition from local tradesmen as he was an outsider to them after being trained in London. They shunned his credentials and training.
1757
In 1757, with the help of his friends at the Glasgow University he opened a shop in the university campus and was appointed as the “Mathematical Instrument Maker to the University”. He was made in-charge of the new astronomical instruments which required special attention.
1758
In 1758, while he used to study and repair scientific instruments at the university, he became friends with some of its professors. In addition to that he formed a partnership with John Craig, a businessman who helped him to open a shop in Glasgow and sell musical instruments.
1763
In 1763, the most crucial moment of his life arrived, when a professor brought his attention to a Newcomen steam engine that was not working properly. This challenged his creativity and scientific knowledge, and he set upon finding a solution for it through his instrument making skills.
1764
In 1764, he married his cousin Margaret Miller, with whom he had five children, but only one of them lived beyond the age of 30. His wife died in childbirth in 1772.
1765
After a study of two years, in 1765 he devised a unique way to modify the engine to improve its working which led to the invention of the steam engine. To this day, it is considered as one of the greatest achievements of all times.
1777
In 1777, he was remarried to Ann Macgregor, daughter of a Glasgow dye-maker. They had two children, who also died at young ages..
1780 To 1790
From 1780 to 1790, he invented numerous techniques to improve the working of steam engine and patented them. This includes rotary motion, double acting engine, parallel motion and invention of pressure gauge.
1784
In 1784, he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
1787
In 1787, he was elected as a member of the Batavian Society for Experimental Philosophy in Rotterdam.
1806
In 1806, he was conferred the honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Glasgow.
25th Aug 1819
He died on 25 August, 1819 at his house in England, at the age of 83.