Who invented the spinning jenny?

James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny in Lancashire around 1764–1765. His machine allowed one worker to spin several threads at once, dramatically increasing yarn production during the early Industrial Revolution.

The original spinning jenny used a row of spindles operated by a single hand wheel. Early versions commonly carried eight spindles, though later machines were expanded to hold many more. It was especially useful for producing cotton weft yarn, although the thread was generally not strong enough for warp.

Hargreaves was forced to leave the Blackburn area after hand spinners attacked his machines, fearing that mechanisation would reduce their livelihoods. He later moved to Nottingham, where he manufactured spinning jennies and patented the device in 1770.

A popular story says the name came from Hargreaves’s daughter or wife, but neither appears to have been named Jenny. “Jenny” was probably a Lancashire abbreviation of “engine.” The invention is often confused with Richard Arkwright’s water frame and Samuel Crompton’s later spinning mule.