[1903] Mary was visiting New York City from her native Alabama in 1903 when she noticed streetcar drivers had to open their windows to clean the snow off the windshields. She had an idea for an automatic wiper and her invention was started!

Her invention could clean snow, rain, or sleet from a windshield by using a handle inside the car. Her goal was to improve driver vision during stormy weather. As a solution, she invented a swinging arm device with a rubber blade that was operated by the driver from within the vehicle via a lever.

The windshield wipers became standard equipment on all American cars by 1916.

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[1971] Since 1971, Kevlar has been used for bullet proof vests, canoes, radial tires, skis, sails, tennis rackets, fiberoptic cables, more - and Stephanie Kwolek invented it! She was a research chemist when she came up with the idea to make a strong and lightweight fiber to use for car tires. Her idea was that it would make the tires lighter and require less gas – a good idea! She came up with a few concepts and had to go back to the drawing board a number of times but eventually she came up with Kevlar – a substance strong enough to stop a speeding bullet and flexible enough to tie a satellite to a space shuttle.

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[1809] Mary Kies received the first U. S. patent issued to a woman. Kies, a Connecticut native, invented a process for weaving straw with silk or thread.

In many states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands, many women inventors didn't bother to patent their new inventions. Mary Kies broke that pattern on May 5, 1809.

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[1892] Sarah Boone patented a device to help neatly iron clothing. This was the predecessor to the modern ironing board. It was made of a narrow wooden board, with collapsible legs and a padded cover.

Before Sarah's inventions, people simply used a table or were creative by lying a plank of wood across two chairs or small tables.

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[1886] Cochran invented a dishwashing machine as an improvement to Joel Houghton's patented wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes. Cochran invented the first practical dishwasher.

It was not until the 1950s that dishwashers caught on with the general public. Josephine Cochran's machine was a hand-operated mechanical dishwasher. She founded a company to manufacture these dish washers, which eventually became KitchenAid.

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[1956] Once a secretary and artist, Bette used her own kitchen blender to mix up her first batch of liquid paper, the substance used to cover up mistakes made on paper.

Bette Nesmith Graham started the Mistake Out Company (later renamed Liquid Paper). By 1967, it had grown into a million dollar business. She later sold her corporation for $47.5 million!

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[1952] Hopper invented the first computer compiler. A compiler is software that makes other computer software called programming languages easier to write.

She also developed a common language with which computers could communicate called Common Business-Oriented Language or COBOL, now the most widely used computer business language in the world. COBOL enabled firms large and small to compile computerized payroll, billing, and other records.

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[1959] As Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls, she became inspired to invent what is now a $1.5 billion industry. The Barbie doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. Barbie was named after her daughter Barbara and Ken after her son.

Ruth Handler became the co-founder of Mattel, one of the 500 largest United States industrial companies.

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[1988] Cataract Laserphaco Probe is designed to use the power of a laser to quickly and painlessly vaporize cataracts from patients’ eyes, replacing the more common method of using a grinding, drill-like device to remove the afflictions. With another invention, Bath was able to restore sight to people who had been blind for over 30 years.

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