Cotton

The earliest evidence of using cotton as a textile fiber is a fabric from India, dating 3000 B.C. There were also excavations of cotton fabrics of comparable age in Southern America. Cotton cultivation first spread from India to Egypt, China and the Sotuh Pacific. Even though cotton fiber had been known already in Southern America, the alrge scale cotton cultivation in Norther America began in the 16th century with the arrival of colonists to southern parts of today's United States.

The largest rise in cotton production is connected with the invention of the saw-tooth cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. With this new technology, it was possible to produce more cotton fiber, which resulted in big changes in the spinning and weaving industry, especially in England. Today. cotton is grown in more than 80 countries worldwide.