Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority (local government area) in southern Lancashire, England. The area is industrial and has a population of 154,739. Heavy industry employs many of Blackburn’s workers. Other products of Blackburn include beer, paper and cardboard, and textiles. Blackburn has been a textiles center since the 1600’s. Its industrial importance increased after the English weaver James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny, the first commercially successful machine to spin many threads at a time, there in 1764.
