Rapid industrialization in the late 19th century was driven by technological innovations like the Bessemer process and Edison's inventions. Inventors like Edison, Bell, and the Wright brothers patented important innovations. New business entities like trusts and pools formed and businesses vertically and horizontally integrated. The ideology of laissez-faire encouraged free competition but trusts were eventually regulated by acts like the Sherman Antitrust Act. The economy experienced boom and bust cycles, and the Panic of 1893 was the worst economic downturn until the Great Depression.