Over time, humans have brought all kinds of inventions and ideas that have led to the development of mankind. Certainly, some were invented by men and some by women. Both genders made immense contributions and without them, we would not be so developed in all fields.
Let’s see what women created so far.
Ice Cream Freezer
Another invention for which we are very grateful is The Ice Cream Maker. In the year 1843, Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson was awarded for a hand-cracked ice cream freezer. She invented this machine because it was a problem with the amount of time it took to make ice cream, and she created another way to make ice cream that was quicker and more efficient.
Dishwasher
Of course, women wanted something to make their lives easier, so they invented an Automatic Dishwasher. Josephine Cochrane patented her invention in 1883 at the age of 45. In the past, there have been many who have tried to create a good one but Josephine’s design was the best so far because it used water pressure for more efficient cleaning.
Feeding Tube
Bessie Virginia Blount was a nurse who managed to help and teach World War 2 veterans with amputations to read and write. She became famous after she created a feeding tube that delivered food to the mouth whenever the tube is bitten. This invention was very necessary because today, feeding tubes are widely used in patients who can not ingest food orally.
Disposable Diapers
Marion Donovan was a mother with an ingenious idea. She wanted to do something so that her child can rest without worrying about getting wet during sleep. In 1951 she patented her first design ‘Boaters’. It’s not surprising the fact that a mother wants the best for her baby, but this idea of ​​making a diaper was unreal and it was back then something revolutionary.
Car Heater
Without Margaret A. Wilcox we would freeze in cars when the weather is cold. She invented an improved car heater for legs in 1893. This worked because it directed air from over the engine and so, we stay relaxed and warm while driving.
House Solar Heating
A Hungarian-American biophysicist MIT engineer named Mária Telkes and an American architect Eleanor Raymond created in the year 1947 the first house powered by solar energy. The Dover Sun House was designed by them and it looked like the second floor was with big windows but actually, that was a huge heat-collecting panel that fed heated air into three ‘heat bins’ each in different rooms. They wanted to do something so that the heat is stored and if in the next days it rains and the sunlight doesn’t reach the panels, the house remains heated.
Wireless Transmission Technology
The Austrian-born American actress and film producer, Hedy Lamarr, was known as “the most beautiful woman in the world”. During World War II, in 1941, she invented the basis for all modern wireless communications: signal hopping. You should thank her for your Wi-Fi.
Laser Cataract Surgery
In 1986, Patricia Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe. This surgical tool allows doctors to dissolve cataracts quickly and painlessly before applying new lenses to patients’ eyes. Nowadays, the device she invented is used worldwide with approximately 10 million cataract operations performed every year.
Kevlar
In 1965 Stephanie Kwolek discovered the super-strong fiber known as Kevlar. While working in a research lab at DuPont, searching for strong but lightweight plastics, she discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness: poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide. Nowadays, this revolutionary fiber saves millions of lives per year by bulletproof vests but also is used in numerous applications, such as bicycle tires or cables, and even in aerospace.
Windshield Wiper
Ironically, the Windshield wipers were invented by a woman who didn’t drive. Mary Anderson was visiting New York in 1902 on a snowy day and “She observed that the streetcar driver had to get out and continually clean off the windshield,” says Sara-Scott Wingo, Anderson’s great-great-niece. These often stops were causing delays and got Anderson wondering how to find a solution. Her answer was some sort of blade that could wipe off the windshield while driving the car. She went back home, sketched her device then applied for a patent. That’s how window cleaning device came to life.
Electric Refrigerator
One of the most important inventions of the 20th century is the modern electric fridge. Florence Parpart is a brilliant mind who give us the opportunity to keep the food fresh since 1914 when she developed the first electric fridge. She designed an electrical system that circulated water throughout the fridge to keep it cold.
Medical Syringe
Letitia Mumford Geer is credited with the invention of a medical syringe that could be used with one hand. She patented her invention in 1899, and since then helped revolutionize health care.
Coffee Filter
Mellita Benz, a German entrepreneur invented the coffee filter on July 8, 1908. She finds an easier way to make coffee by putting it in a filter and pouring water over it. Nowadays, the coffee maker company Mellita is one of the biggest in the world.
Home Security System
Marie Van Brittan Brown created in 1969, a home security system with closed-circuit television, known as CCTV. While New York City police respond slowly to calls in her neighborhood, Marie helped by her husband put together four peepholes, a sliding camera, television monitors, and two-way microphones creating a security system.
Fire Escape
Anna Connelly patented the exterior fire escape, in 1887. Since then, she prevents the death of many living in multi-story buildings.
Stem Cell Isolation
In the early 1990s, Ann Tsukamoto discovered human blood stem cells and co-patented the process of isolating them. A blood stem cell or a bone marrow transplant can replace a damaged immune system in a person with blood cancer, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Central Heating
Alice H. Parker invented an important system for modern life, patented the system of central heating using natural gas. At its time, using natural gas, rather than wood, to power a heating furnace was a revolutionary idea.
Beer
Nearly 7000 years ago, beer was invented in Mesopotamia. We don’t have an exact date or inventor, but the first batch of beer brewers were women. Sumerians were one of the first people who left us hard evidence of beer drinking.
Monopoly
Monopoly was invented by a woman, Elizabeth Magie, in 1904. The game was originally named The Landlord’s Game and it took many years to become the most popular board game ever.
In the end, we are grateful for what women accomplished and we should agree that without these discoveries we wouldn’t get so far.
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