The advent of electricity largely brought to an end the era of water turbines powering textile mills by means of belts. Electricity enabled large factories to operate even in areas away from water. But this was by no means the end of water power. Instead water turbines where hooked up to generators rather than belts, and would become a major source of electricity in some regions. 1878 the first hydroelectric generator was produced, only powerful enough to light a single lamp. But in the following decades hydroelectric plants emerged with ever greater frequency, including over the Niagara Falls in 1895. In this way the tradition of water powering industry lived on. 

International Hydropower Association https://www.hydropower.org/a-brief-history-of-hydropower

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