Cotton has been used to make clothes for millennia, mainly in tropical areas. Some sources claim that the ancient Egyptians used cotton as early as 12,000 years BC. In Babylon, cotton was named white gold. In Mexican caves, 7,000-year-old cotton clothes old had been found.
The oldest record of cotton comes from India. In India, they have been cultivating cotton for over 3,000 years. It is mentioned in the scripture Rigveda from the year 1500 BC. One thousand years later, the historian Herodotus wrote about Indian cotton, “There are wild trees, the seeds of which are used to make cotton, which, in quality and beauty, exceeds wool. Cotton is used to make clothes.” The Indian cotton industry lost its glamour during the Industrial Revolution. In 1764, Jenny was invented, an early spinner with several spindles. This and other machines enabled inexpensive processing in Great Britain. In the south of the USA, cotton cultivation was long connected with slave labour.
In the 20th century, cotton got a strong competition with industrial-made fibres. The main competitor are polyester fibres, which were made in larger quantities than cotton in the years 2003/2004.
Source: Wikipedia
