Biography (born Dec. 3, 1753, Firwood, Lancashire, Eng.—died June 26, 1827, Bolton, Lancashire) British inventor. His spinning mule (probably called a mule because it was a cross between inventions of Richard Arkwright and James Hargreaves) permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn by simultaneously drawing out and giving the final twisting to the cotton fibres fed into it, reproducing mechanically the actions of hand spinning. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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