The Industrial Revolution, in England from 1770 to 1850, led to new developments in technology and the industry, as a result of technological progress in a multitude of fields. prior to the early 1700s, iron was relatively hard to obtain. In 1709, Abraham Darby came up with a way of smelting iron by using processed coal instead of charcoal, but the industry didn't take off until 1760. Also, James watt later invented a double acting engine and an automatic control mechanism. Transportation also blossomed with the improvement of roads, canals and railroads. Lastly, the factory system excelled with inventions such as the powered loom, and the "Spinning Jenny", used to spin eight threads at once.