ARIZONA WOMAN BUSY SMART AND STRONG
Women who changed the world… and you probably didn’t know it!
Mar 14, 2013, 12:00 PM
March is National Women’s History Month, and in honor of all the Busy, Smart, and Strong women out there, I thought it might be nice to look back at some women who’ve done some very historical things.
You see, what they did is historical, but THEY aren’t necessarily! And it’s time we gave them a little love!
I’m talking inventions…these smart women gave the world something that changed it for the better. Here are just a few of the things women have invented throughout history…
Let’s start with a couple you may already know…
The Toll House Cookie aka the Chocolate Chip Cookie…created by Ruth Wakefield in 1930.
Liquid Paper, that white stuff you can smear across an ink mistake on white paper so you correct yourself…invented by Bessie Nesmith in 1951 (and she was the mother of Monkee, Mike Nesmith!)
Here are some you might NOT know…
The Dishwasher…invented by Josephine Cochran in 1872. Cochran was a smart socialite who invented it because her maids kept breaking her good dishes.
Kevlar…as in bulletproof vests, also used in radial tires and crash helmets…invented by Stephanie Kwolek in 1966.
Windshield Wipers…invented by Mary Anderson in 1903. She came up with the idea on a trip to New York City when she saw the streetcar drivers sticking their heads out the window in a snowstorm in order to see. At that time, the wiper was activated manually. A little more than 10 years later, another woman, Charlotte Bridgwood, would patent the AUTOMATIC windshield wiper.
Medical Syringes…invented by Letitia Geer in 1899.
Engine Mufflers…invented by El Dorado Jones in 1917
Electric hot water heaters…invented by Ida Forbes in 1917
Other things that we see and use today…the circular saw, disposable diapers, fire escapes, globes, ironing boards, fire escapes, life rafts, rotary engines, Scotchgard, street cleaning machine, and a paper bag making machine….ALL INVENTED BY WOMEN!
And of course, this is just scratching the surface. We may never know how many things were actually invented by women because prior to 1900, women were pretty much universally denied the ability to hold a patent…it would be in her husband or father’s name instead.
