Thistimeline of clothing and textiles technology covers events relating tofiber and flexiblewoven materialworn on the body. This includes the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, and manufacturing systems (technology).

• Research remains ongoing as to when people startedwearing clothes.
• c. 50,000 BC – A discovered twistedfibre (a 3-ply cord fragment) indicates the likely use of clothing, bags, nets and similar technology byNeanderthals in southeasternFrance.^[1][2]
• c.27000 BC – Impressions of textiles,basketry, and nets left on small pieces of hard clay in Europe.^[3]
• c.25000 BC –Venus figurines depicted with clothing.^[3]
• c. 8000 BC – Evidence offlax cultivation in theNear East.^[4]
• c. 6000 BC – Evidence of woven textiles used to wrap the dead atÇatalhöyük inAnatolia.^[4]
• c. 3000 BC – Breeding ofdomesticatedsheep with a woolyfleece rather than hair in the Near East.^[4]
• c. 2500 BC – TheIndus Valley civilisation cultivatescotton in theIndian subcontinent.^[5]
• c. 1988 BC – Production oflinen cloth inAncient Egypt, along with otherbast fibers includingrush,reed,palm, andpapyrus.^[6]
• c. 1000 BC –Cherchen Man was laid to rest with atwill tunic and the earliest known sample oftartan fabric.^[7]
• c. 200 AD – Earliestwoodblock printing from China. Flowers in three colors onsilk.^[8]
• 247 AD –Dura-Europos, a Roman outpost, is destroyed. Excavations of the city discovered early examples ofnaalebinding fabric.
• 11th century –Broadcloth first produced in theDuchy of Brabant (nowFlanders).^[9]
• 1275 – Approximate date of asilk burial cushionknit in two colors found in the tomb of Spanish royalty.
• 1493 – The first available reference tolace is in a will by one of the ruling MilaneseSforza family.^[10]
• 1550-1600 –Armazine andBombazine introduced for the first time in United Kingdom.
• 1590 – First reference toCambric fabric.^[11]
• 1840 –Barathea developed as a cloth formourning clothes.^[12]
• 1892 – Cross, Bevan & Beadle inventViscose.
• 1938 – First commercialnylon fiber production byDuPont. Nylon is the firstsynthetic, non-cellulosic fiber on the market.
• 1938 – First commercialPTFE fiber production by DuPont.
• 1953 – First commercialpolyester PET fiber production by DuPont.
• 1958 –Spandex fiber invented by DuPont'sJoseph Shivers.
• 1964 –Kevlar fiber invented by DuPont'sStephanie Kwolek.

• c.28000 BC –Sewing needles in use atKostenki in Russia.
• c. 6500 BC – Approximate date ofNaalebinding examples found inNahal Hemar Cave,Israel. This technique, which uses short separate lengths of thread, predated the invention ofknitting (with its continuous lengths of thread) and requires that all of the as-yet unused thread be pulled through the loop in the sewn material.^[13] This requires much greater skill than knitting in order to create a fine product.^[14]
• 4200 BC – Date ofMesolithic examples of Naalebinding found inDenmark, marking spread of technology toNorthern Europe.^[15]
• 200 BC to 200 AD – Approximate date of earliest evidence of "Needle Knitting" inPeru, a form of Naalebinding that preceded localcontact with the Spanish.^[16]
• 298 AD – Earliest attestation of a foot-poweredloom, with a hint that the invention arose atTarsus.^[17]

• 500s – Handheld rollercotton gins invented in theIndian subcontinent.^[18]
• 500-1000 –Spinning wheel invented in the Indian subcontinent.^[19]
• 1000s – Finely decorated examples ofcotton socks made by true knitting using continuous thread appear in Egypt.^[14]
• 1000s – The earliest clear illustrations of the spinning wheel come from theIslamic world.^[20]
• 1100s-1300s – Dual-rollercotton gins appear in India and China.^[21]
• 1200s-1300s – Theworm gear roller cotton gin invented in the Indian subcontinent during the earlyDelhi Sultanate era.^[22]
• 1400s-1500s – The incorporation of thecrank handle in the cotton gin, first appeared in the Indian subcontinent some time during the late Delhi Sultanate or the earlyMughal Empire.^[23]
• 1562 – Date of first example of use of thepurl stitch, from atomb inToledo, Spain, which allows knitting of panels of material. Previously material had to beknitted in the round (in a tubular form) and cut open.
• 1589 –William Lee inventsstocking frame, the first but hand-operated weftknitting machine.

• c. 1600 – The modern spinning wheel comes together with the addition of thetreadle to the flyer wheel.
• 1725 –Basile Bouchon inLyon invents punchedpaper data storage as a means for controlling a loom.
• 1733 –John Kaypatents theflying shuttle.
• 1738 –Lewis Paul patents thedraw roller.
• 1745 –Jacques Vaucanson inLyon invents the first fully automatedloom.
• 1758 –Jedediah Strutt adds a second set of needles to Lee's stocking frame to create the rib frame.
• 1764 –James Hargreaves orThomas Highs invents thespinning jenny (patented 1770).
• 1767 –John Kay invents thespinning frame.
• 1768 –Josiah Crane invents the hand-operatedwarp knitting machine.
• 1769 –Richard Arkwright'swater frame.
• 1769 –Samuel Wise solves the mechanization of W. Lee's stocking frame.
• 1779 –Samuel Crompton invents thespinning mule.
• 1784 –Edmund Cartwright invents thepower loom.
• 1791 – The EnglishmanDawson solves the mechanization of the warp knitting machine.
• 1793 –Samuel Slater ofBelper establishes the first successful cotton spinning mill in the United States, atPawtucket; beginnings of theWaltham-Lowell system
• 1794 –Eli Whitney patents thecotton gin.
• 1798 – The FrenchmanDecroix (orDecroise) patents the circular bearded needle knitting machine.
• 1801 –Joseph Marie Jacquard invents theJacquard punched card loom, which would later lead to the invention of the computer.
• 1806 –Pierre Jeandeau patents the first latch needle (for the knitting machine).
• 1808 –John Heathcoat patents thebobbin net machine.
• 1812 – Samual Clark and James Mart constructs thepusher machine.
• 1813 –William Horrocks improves the power loom.^{[clarification needed]}
• 1814 –Paul Moody of theBoston Manufacturing Company builds the first power loom in the United States; beginnings of the "Waltham System".
• 1823 –Associates of the lateFrancis Cabot Lowell of theBoston Manufacturing Company begin operations at theMerrimack Manufacturing Company at EastChelmsford, Massachusetts. In 1826, East Chelmsford becomes incorporated as the town ofLowell, Massachusetts, the first factory city in the United States.
• 1828 –Paul Moody develops the leather belt and pulley power transmission system, which would become the standard for U.S. mills.

• 1830 –Barthélemy Thimonnier develops the first functionalsewing machine.
• 1833 –Walter Hunt invents thelockstitch sewing machine, but is dissatisfied with its function and does not patent it.
• 1842 –Lancashire Loom, a semi-automatic power loom, is developed by Bullough and Kenworthy.
• 1842 – John Greenough patents the first sewing machine in the United States.
• 1844 – John Smith of Salford granted a patent for a shuttlelessrapier loom.^{[citation needed]}
• 1846 – John Livesey adapts John Heathcoat's bobbinet machine into thecurtain machine
• 1847 –William Mason Patents his "Mason self-acting" Mule.
• 1849 –Matthew Townsend patents the variant of latch needle which has been the most widely used needle in weft knitting machines.
• 1855 –Redgate combines a circular loom with a warp knitting machine.
• 1856 –Thomas Jeacock of Leicester patents the tubular pipe compound needle.
• 1857 –Luke Barton introduces a self-acting narrowing mechanism on S. Wise's knitting machine.
• 1857 –Arthur Paget patents a multi-head knitting machine called "Paget-machine".
• 1859 –Wilhelm Barfuss improves on Redgates machine, calledRaschel machines (named after the French actressÉlisabeth FéliceRachel).
• 1864 –William Cotton patents the straight bar knitting machine named after him ("Cotton machine").
• 1865 – The AmericanIsaac Wixom Lamb patents the flat knitting machine using latch needles.
• 1865 – Clay invents the double-headed latch needle which has enabled to create purl stitch knitting.
• 1866 – The AmericanMac Nary patents the circular knitting machine (with vertical needles) for fabrication of socks and stockings with heel and toe pouches.
• 1878 –Henry Griswold adds a second set of needles (horizontal needles) to the circular knitting machine enabling knitting of rib fabrics as cuff for socks.
• 1881 – Pierre Durand invents the tubular pipe compound needle.
• 1890s – Development of theBarmen machine

• 1889 –Northrop Loom:Draper Corporation, First automatic bobbin changingweavingloom placed in production. Over 700,000 would be sold worldwide.
• 1900 –Heinrich Stoll creates the flat bed purl knitting machine.
• 1910 –Spiers invents the circular bed purl knitting machine.
• c. 1920 –Hattersley loom developed by George Hattersley and Sons.
• 1924 – Celanese Corporation produces the firstacetate fiber.
• 1928 – International Bureau of Standardization of Man Made Fibers founded.^[24]
• 1939 – US passes Wool Products Labeling Act, requiring truthful labeling of wool products according to origin.^[25]
• 1940 –Spectrophotometer invented, with impact on commercial textile dye processes.
• 1942 – First patent for fabricsingeing awarded in US.^[26]
• 1949 –Heinrich Mauersberger invents the sewing-knitting technique and his "Malimo" machine.
• 1955 – Research begins on multi-phase weft insertion. Successful examples will not exist until the 80s and late 90s.^[27]
• 1956 – Du Pont Introduces a process for spinning sheaf yarn, a precursor toair-jet spinning.^[28]
• c. 1960s. Existing machines become outfitted with computerized numeric control (CNC) systems, enabling more accurate and efficient actuation.
• 1960 – US passes Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, dealing with mandatory content disclosure in labelling, invoicing, and advertising of textile products.^[29]
• 1963 –Open-end spinning developed in Czechoslovakia.
• 1965 – Dunlop Rubber awarded patent for polyurethane sheets fused together using ultrasonic vibrations, a precursor to fusing of coated textiles.^[30]
• 1968 – Control device for the knives of a pleating machine patented in Germany.^[31]
• 1979 – Murata manufacturing demonstrates air splicing of yarn.^[32]
• c. 1981 – Air jet spinning enters the US market.^[33]
• 1983 – Bonas Machine Company Ltd. presents the first computer-controlled,electronic, Jacquard loom.^[34]
• 1988 – First US patent awarded for a "pick and place" robot.^[35]

• 500 AD –jia xie method forresist dyeing (usually silk) using wood blocks invented in China. An upper and a lower block is made, with carved out compartments opening to the back, fitted with plugs. The cloth, usually folded a number of times, is inserted and clamped between the two blocks. By unplugging the different compartments and filling them with dyes of different colors, a multi-colored pattern can be printed over quite a large area of folded cloth.^[8]
• 600s – Oldest samples of cloth printed bywoodblock printing from Egypt.
• 1799 –Charles Tennant discovers and patentsbleaching powder.
• 1856 –William Henry Perkin invents the first syntheticdye.
• 1921 – Georges Heberlein, of Switzerland, patents a treatment of cellulose withsulfuric acid to createorgandy.^[36]
• c. 1945-1970 – Antimicrobial research enters a "golden" period. By the 1980s, antimicrobial treatments for textiles are developed and implemented in manufacturing.^[37]
• 1954 –Fiber reactive dye invented, with better performance for dyeing cellulosic fiber
• 1961 – Du Pont assigned patent for yarn fasciation.^[38]
• 1967 – Dow Chemical Co patents method for treating textile materials with afluorocarbon resin, offering water, oil, and stain repellency.^[39]
• 1970 –Superwash acid treatment of wool creates a more durable material that does not shrink in laundry.
• 1979 – US DoD's Natick Labs grants multi-millions of dollars for research in chemical and biological protection garments.^[40]

• Sewing
• Clothing technology
• Timeline of historic inventions

• Barber, E. J. W.Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1991.ISBN 0-691-03597-0 (Barber 1991)
• Barber, Elizabeth Wayland.Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times. W. W. Norton & Company, new edition, 1995. (Barber 1995)
• Bender Jørgensen, Lise. 'Stone-Age Textiles in North Europe'. InTextiles in Northern Archaeology, Textile Symposium in York, North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles Monograph 3 (NESAT III). London Archetype Publications, 1990.ISBN 1-873132-05-0
• Bennett, Wendell C. & Bird, Junius B.Andean Culture History. Handbook Series No. 15. Second and revised edition. ©The American Museum of Natural History. A publication of the Anthropological Handbook Fund, New York, 1960.
• Habib, Irfan (2011).Economic History of Medieval India, 1200-1500. Pearson Education.ISBN 9788131727911.
• Jenkins, David, ed. (2003).The Cambridge History of Western Textiles. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-34107-8.
• Jerde, Judith. (1992).Encyclopedia of Textiles. Facts on File.
• Theaker, Julie.History 101. (on the history of knitting)
• Spencer, J. David.Knitting Technology. Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1983.ISBN 0-08-024763-6
• Modig, Niels.Hosiery Machines. Their development, technology, and practical use. Meisenbach, Bamberg, 1988.ISBN 3-87525-048-6
• Matsuo, T. 'Innovations in textile machine and instrument.' InIndian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research. Vol 33, September 2008, pp. 288–303.

• Watt, James C.Y. & Wardwell, Anne E. (1997).When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.ISBN 0870998250.

• Technology timelines
• Weaving
• History of clothing
• History of the textile industry

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