Throughout history, most of the world’s leaders, philosophers, and inventors have been men. Yet many things we know and love today were actually created by women.Whether these items are fun or absolutely pivotal to our daily lives, inventions by women have contributed a lot to our way of living and helped to shape the course of human history.
1. The Electric Refrigerator.
For ages before the advent of the refrigerator, iceboxes were the customary way to keep foods cold and fresh at the appropriate temperature and away from microscopic life that might taint the food and make us sick. Iceboxes were shelving units into which snow was packed during the winter months. This required the grueling task of repeatedly gathering ice to keep your food cold.But that all changed when Florence Parpart came onto the scene. Outside of some US government census data, we know little about Parpart. But we do have the patent records that show that she invented the refrigerator.
2. Windshield Wipers.
No matter where it’s raining, windshield wipers have helped drivers to stay safe and see the road ahead of them clearly. This is all thanks to their invention by Mary Anderson. On November 10, 1903, Anderson filed the patent for a device that reached to the outside windows from inside the car and cleaned the glass in rain or snow.It came to her in winter 1902 while watching trolley cars roll by. She realized that drivers had to stick their heads out of their car windows in snowy weather to be safe on the roads.
3. Wi-Fi.
Actress Hedy Lamarr was considered as beautiful as she was intelligent. She had come to America to escape Nazi Germany and build a new life. Lamarr was destined for stardom and would share the stage with some of Hollywood’s biggest names and talent of the day.But before her stardom in the States, Lamarr had worked with a composer to design a way for devices to reduce the signal issues in telecommunications during World War II. This design became fundamental in a lot of technologies, including Wi-Fi.
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Every person enjoying a chocolate chip cookie can thank one person, Ruth Graves Wakefield, for putting it together one day. The best part is that it all came about by accident.One day in 1930, Ruth wanted to whip up a batch of chocolate butter drop cookies. She went to place baker’s chocolate into the cookies she had assembled when she realized she was missing this key ingredient. She then took a regular chocolate bar, cut it into pieces, placed it into the cookies, and hoped that the chocolate would spread throughout the cookies equally when they baked.
5. Computer Software.
Computer software was invented by a woman. Yes. All of it. Ada Lovelace was an Englishwoman who was born Augusta Ada Byron, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. So it’s safe to say that she wasn’t exactly born into poverty and had the fortunate opportunity of a private education at her fingertips.Later, she came up with a way that the Analytical Engine (the first computer) could be taught to calculate certain types of numbers. And thus computer software was born.
6. Electric Water Heater.
Within the next few days, chances are good that you’ll take a nice, enjoyable, hot shower. The technology that made it all possible was invented in 1917 when Ida Forbes was officially awarded the patent for the first electric water heater. To this day, she’s still being thanked in advertisements and even on products with her original design on them. That’s how important hot showers are to us.
7. Beer.
Beer has had a long, strange, and interesting history. But whether you prefer an IPA or a deliciously dark stout, the long process that perfected that beer in your cup was originally carried out by women. Historians have pointed out that all of the beer-making and crafting was likely handled by women. In fact, it was only when medieval and modern Christianity came about that beer-making was done by men, usually monks who decided to live on beer alone for months.