Silk Road textile trade

A plain-woven, often printed cotton cloth named for Calicut, India, imported to Europe from the 17th century and later mass-produced during the Industrial Revolution for everyday clothing.

A soft, loosely woven fabric, traditionally wool and later cotton, brushed to raise a light nap for warmth; associated with Welsh textile production from at least the 17th century.

A mechanical loom attachment invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804 that used punched cards to control individual warp threads, enabling complex woven patterns and influencing early computing.

A machine patented by Eli Whitney in 1794 that mechanically separated cotton fibers from seeds, dramatically increasing cotton production and, in the American South, entrenching slave labor on plantations.

American company founded in San Francisco in the 1850s; with tailor Jacob Davis it patented riveted denim work trousers in 1873, creating what became known as blue jeans.