Industrial Revolution, in modern history, the process of change from an agrarian, handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture. This process began in Britainin the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world. Although used earlier by French writers, the term Industrial Revolution was first popularized by the English economic historian Arnold Toynbee (1852–83) to describe Britain’s economic development from 1760 to 1840. Since Toynbee’s time the term has been more broadly applied.