This Is How Your Day Would Look Without These Inventions From Women

1. Computer Algorithm

(Image/ Source: reddit.com)We take computers and technology for granted these days- and we’ve got one particular lady to thank for that. Ada Lovelace created the first computer algorithm in 1843 after creating her own notes when translating the lectures of her mathematics professor. She’s now rightfully given credit for her important work.

2. The Dishwasher

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The humble dishwasher was a breakthrough invention in the 1800s. A lady called Josephine Gordon invented it in 1872 after realizing that water pressure was much more effective for cleaning dishes than scrubbers. While plenty of people (mainly men) came up with prototypes for a dishwasher, Josephine’s was the best by a mile.

3. Circular Saw

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You might think that DIY tools were invented by men, but the circular saw was actually the work of Tabitha Babbitt, who created it way back in 1812. She lived in the Shaker community, and spent a lot of her time working as a weaver. She noticed that people had difficulty cutting wood with a pit saw, so she decided to attach a circular blade to a spinning wheel as a solution.

4. Life Raft

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Another invention from the 1800s. Life rafts were invented by a woman called Maria Beasley in 1882, who already had the invention of the barrel-hopping machine patent under her belt. She created a life raft with guard rails that was foldable and fireproof, and the same design was used on the Titanic. Her invention saved over 700 lives.

5. Medical syringe

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Where would we be without the medical syringe? Letitia Geer is the gal behind the invention, and she made her early designs in 1899. At the time, medical practitioners need to use both hands to give injections, but Letitia came up with the idea of a one-handed syringe, which is used across the globe today.

6. Fire Escapes

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The fire escape was invented by Anna Connelly in 1887, who decided to invest in an external metal staircase outside of her building. After her invention was embraced by the public, New York City building codes were updated, which stated that residential buildings needed to have a secondary means of escape from fires.

7. The Original Monopoly

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Originally known as “The Landlord’s Game”, Monopoly was created back in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie. She designed the game to highlight the negative outcomes of unchecked capitalism, but this was ever so slightly altered by a man 30 years later, who had essentially copied most of her work. He later sold his patent to the Parker Brothers, who were the ones who launched the Monopoly we know today.

8. Windshield Wiper

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The windshield wiper is probably one of the most well-known inventions by a woman. The gal in question is Mary Anderson, who crafted her first prototype in 1903. She tried to sell her cleaning device to manufacturers for years, but they all refused. As her patent was about to expire, a similar device started appearing on cars. It seems manufacturers decided to steal her idea…

9. Word Processor

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Evelyn Berezin is credited with the invention of the world’s first word processor, which she created in 1971. Evelyn was a bit of a trailblazer; not only did she use her scientific brain to craft some cool new software, but she also founded her own company, Redactron to protect her invention. She was a smart gal!

10. Bullet-proof Fiber

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In 1966, DuPont researcher Stephanie Kwolek invented bullet-proof fiber. She had been searching for a lightweight and strong plastic for use in car tires, and discovered what is now known as Kevlar. This fiber has been used in everything from canoes and bridge cables to frying pans, as well as bullet-proof vests.

11. Aquariums

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French naturalist Jeanne Villepreux-Power invented the aquarium in 1832 when she was trying to prove that the paper nautilus (a kind of octopus) does not take discarded shells from other organisms, but grows its own shell instead. As she wanted to observe the creature for a long period of time, she built herself a little aquarium.

12. Ice Cream Maker

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It was Nancy Johnson who invented the ice cream maker in 1843. And we’re very thankful! Before freezers were even invented, this lady had her priorities straight. She created a double-cylinder hand-crank ice cream machine, which could actually create two different flavors that are frozen at the same time.

13. Submarine Lamp and Telescope

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In 1845, the submarine lamp and telescope was created by Sarah Mather, which she quickly decided to patent. It was a weird kind of apparatus with a lamp that was attached to a tube, which was then sunk under water. It was generally used by people above water, who were attempting to see into the depths to investigate wrecks and damaged ship hulls. It was also used to detect any enemy activity during the Civil War.

14. Globes

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Globes are a pretty cool invention- and we have inventor Ellen Fitz to thank! She created her first early designs back in 1875 when she was working as a tutor in Canada. She wanted a globe mount that could map the earth's daily and nightly rotation in relation to the path of the sun, which would also be capable of displaying the earth’s movement throughout the year.

15. Paper Bag-making Machine

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There’s a good story to this one. In 1871, Margaret Knight had her invention of a paper bag-making machine stolen. To add insult to injury, the man in question claimed there was no way a woman could have possibly invented it. So she decided to act fast and one-up him. She got a patent for a machine that could produce the square-bottomed paper bags we use today, leaving him with no legal way to copy her idea. Good work, Margaret!

16. Locomotive Chimney

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Mary Walton invented the locomotive chimney in 1879 after spending a long time working on improvements to urban conditions and air quality. She created a nifty little train chimney system that reduced air pollution by filtering smoke through water. This then trapped the airborne chemicals and held them in suspension.

17. System to Reduce Noise By Train

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Not content with one train invention, Mary Walton went on to pull another neat trick out of the bag.  She patented a way to significantly reduce the noise produced by NYC’s elevated railways by simply insulating the tracks with big boxes of sand. The rights to this invention were snapped up by Metropolitan Railroad straight away!

18. Ironing Board

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In 1892, the ironing board was invented. And while there were plenty of patents already around, it was a lady called Sarah Boone who was credited with the cool idea of a folding ironing board that you could stow away after use. She also added a thin double-sided arm that made it perfect for ironing sleeves.

19. Retractable Dog Leash

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Mary A. Delaney loved her dogs dearly, but she was getting fed up with standard dog leashes. She tried to find a retractable dog leash that she could shorten, and, in her own words, “ stop dogs from running on the wrong side of lamp posts or pedestrians, thus causing much annoyance to the owner.”

After a lot of fruitless searching, she decided to invent her own in 1908.

20. Car Heater

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Back in 1893, the very first car heater was invented, courtesy of Margaret A. Wilcox. After a lot of experimenting, she found that she could use the heat generated via combustion and channel air over the engine and into the car, which she then patented before her invention was copied. Thank you, Margaret!

21. Central Heating

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While we’re on the subject of heating, let’s give it up for Alice Parker, the inventor of central heating. Her revolutionary idea to heat her home was the very first that used natural gas instead of wood, but she never fully utilized this idea or patented it. Years after her invention, she was rightfully credited for her breakthrough work.

22. Foot Pedal Trash Can

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It was Lillian Gilbreth that invented the foot pedal trash can, but the date on this one is a little hazy. Lillian was a top engineer and psychologist during her life (she lived from 1878-1972), and worked on projects that focused on boosting productivity in workspaces. She was pretty amazing at ergonomics, and conducted a lot of valuable research in psychology too.

23. Low-reflection Glass

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Low-reflection glass was created by a lady called Katharine Blodgett in 1935. This was revolutionary, as before glass coating was actually invented, glass wasn't anywhere near as reliable or useful as it is these days. This has massively improved the quality of things like microscopes, eyeglasses and camera lenses.

24. Anti-fungal Drugs

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It was a team effort for this particular invention. Created by Rachel Fuller Brown and Elizabeth Lee Hazen in 1950, these two lab researchers at the New York Department of Health discovered Nystatin, one of the first-ever effective anti-fungal medicines. If you’ve ever had thrush before, you’ve got these two ladies to thank for the treatment!

25. Space Rocket Propulsion System

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This a pretty groundbreaking invention. In 1974, Yvonne Brill created something called the hydrazine resistojet, which streamlined various rocket propulsion systems. All of these systems required different types of fuel and added prohibitive weight, but Yvonne managed to consolidate them into a lighter system with just one single fuel source.

26. Space Station Batteries

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While we’re on the subject of space, there’s another lady who’s managed to come up with a pretty awesome space invention. Olga Gonzalez-Sanabria created space station batteries in 1980, which would be able to keep the International Space Station powered up when it went dark (the Space Station generally relied on solar power).

27. Laser Cataract Surgery

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In 1984, Patricia Bath patented the Laserphaco Probe. This invention allows doctors to dissolve cataracts quickly and painlessly before they apply brand-new lenses to the eyes of their patients. It’s a pretty groundbreaking technique that’s now used across the world to prevent people from going blind.

28. Stem Cell Isolation

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Another scientific breakthrough. In 1991, a lady called Ann Tsukamoto made huge progress in cancer research. She managed to complete the process of isolating human stem cells found in bone marrow, and she quickly patented her techniques. Her discovery has gone on to save hundreds and thousands of lives around the world.

29. Caller ID

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Back in the 1970s, ambitious inventor Shirley Ann Jackson was working as an award-winning theoretical physicist. She was also paving the way in telecommunications technology, and went on to create caller ID and call waiting. She was also responsible for the invention of solar cells and fiber optic cables.

30. Naturally Colored Cotton

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In 1997, Sally Fox was making progress with her innovative plant-breeding work. After a lot of experiments, she eventually found a way to grow plants in an array of colors that can be machine-harvested and spun. This reduces the need for synthetic dyes and chemicals, as well as bleach processing. Nice work, Sally!