One of the biggest changes in the history of the world, the Industrial Revolution, started
in Britain was the first home of new machines, new types of materials and new ways of
making power. This was the age of coal and iron, of gas and electricity, of railways and
factories. These factories created millions of new jobs, so many people began to leave
the countryside to work in towns. Houses and factories had to be built for them, By 1850,
over 60 per cent of Britons lived, often working 14 hours a day, six days a week.