5000 B.C.
| Cotton fibre and cloth fragments found in Mexico date from this period
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3000 B.C.
| Cotton first cultivated as a fabric in the Indus River Valley (present-day Pakistan)
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2500 B.C.
| Chinese, Egyptian and South American civilisations begin weaving cotton fabrics
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2500 B.C.
| Early farming societies in South and North America domesticate and breed two local species of cotton: Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense
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300 B.C.
| Alexander the Great’s army brings cotton goods into Europe following conquest of the Persian Empire. However, cotton cloth remains expensive and its use is limited
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| 100 A.D. | Arab traders bring two cotton fabrics, muslin and calico, to Italy and Spain
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800s
| The Moors introduce cotton cultivation to Spain
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1492
| Christopher Columbus finds the modern world’s most popular current cotton variety, Gossypium hirsutum, in the Bahamas
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1500s
| Denim fabric is initially produced in Nimes, France. Denim derives its name from ‘serge de Nimes’ (‘fabric of Nimes’)
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1500s
| Sailors from Italian port city, Genoa, begin to wear denim trousers. The word ‘jeans’ is derived from ‘Genes’, the French name for Genoa
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1530s
| Naturally coloured cotton fabrics are among the first items collected from the Americas and more technically sophisticated than fabric woven by European looms at the time
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1600s
| The East India Company brings rare cotton fabrics to Europe from India
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1621
| Cotton first produced in parts of present-day USA
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1641
| First cotton spinning factory opens in Manchester, UK, marking the true beginning of Europe’s cotton industry
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1700s
| The world cotton industry develops dramatically as Britain acquires colonies suitable for cotton growing whilst at the same time textile machinery improvements allow stronger yarn to be spun
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1700s
| Cotton replaces flax and wool as Europeans most popular fabric
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1760s
| Britain overtakes India as world’s largest cotton processor as a result of the Industrial Revolution
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1764-67
| The spinning jenny (1764) and Arkwright's spinning frame (1767) are invented, enabling cheap mass production of cotton cloth
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1793
| American Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, separating cotton 50 times faster than traditional hand methods. As a result of this and the advent of cheaper industrial dyes, Gossypium hirsutum, a white cotton species, replaces coloured varieties as the most popular cotton variety
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Early 1800s
| Southern US states become the world’s largest exporter of cotton to thriving British textile mills
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1920s
| The USA accounts for more than half of the world’s cotton fibre
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1939–45
| During WWII, naturally green and brown cottons are again produced commercially to counter the lack of dyes available
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1940s
| Denim’s popularity becomes more widespread as its image shifts from durable clothing for blue-collar workers towards everyday apparel for the general public and youth in particular
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1950/51
| World cotton demand and production levels each reach seven million tonnes
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Early 1980s
| China overtakes the USA as the world’s largest cotton producer
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1980s
| Most native, coloured cotton varieties grown in Africa, Asia, Central and South America are replaced by all-white, commercial varieties
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1996
| Transgenic cotton varieties are first introduced. They will be widely adopted by the world cotton industry before the end of the 20th century
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2003
| The first transgenic cotton varieties to have two independently acting Bt genes are successfully introduced in Australia and the USA
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2004/05
| World cotton demand and production reach record highs of 23 and 26 million tonnes respectively
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2006/07
| World cotton average yields reach a record 747 kilograms per hectare, due in large part to increased use of biotechnology
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