Happy Birthday December 3

English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry Samuel Crompton was born on December 3, 1753. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, which transformed spinning from a hand-operated cottage industry to the machine-operated factory process of today. The mule was the most common spinning machine from 1790 until about 1900 and was still used for fine yarns until the early 1980s.

Joseph Conrad was born on December 3, 1857 in Berdychiv, in a part of Ukraine that was at the time of his birth under Russian rule. He became a naturalized British subject in 1886. Conrad is famous for his novels Lord Jim, Nostromo, Heart Of Darkness and The Secret Agent and has been described as ‘one of the greatest English novelists’.

Joseph Conrad

For more December 3 anniversaries, including Illinois becoming the 21st U.S. state, the first demonstration of neon lighting, and the first successful human heart transplant, check out OnThatDay.