WEB CHUTNEY

Our textbooks are full of names of men who invented some really cool stuff. What we never see in our textbooks are the names of women who made an invention. So, we bring you a list of things that were invented by women:

1. Chocolate chip cookies

In 1930, chocolate chip cookies were accidentally invented by Ruth Wakefield when she ran out of baker’s chocolate.

2. Radioactivity

Madam Curie proved that one can split an atom. This was one of the major discoveries made by Marie Curie whilst she was studying ‘radioactive’ elements.

3. Dishwasher

The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1887.

4. Coffee maker

Melitta Bentz, a German housewife, invented the coffee machine in 1908.

5. Refrigerator

Florence Parpart invented the modern electric refrigerator in 1914.

6. Medical syringe

In 1899, Letitia Geer invented a medical syringe that could be operated with only one hand.

7. Ice cream maker

Nancy Johnson invented the ice cream freezer in 1843.

8. Windshield wiper

Mary Anderson invented windshield wiper in 1903.

9. Monopoly

Elizabeth Magie invented a board game and patented it in 1904. After 30 years, Charles Darrow rejiggered the board design and sold it to Parker Brothers as ‘Monopoly’.

10. Computer software

Dr Grace Murray Hopper invented COBOL, the first user-friendly business computer software program. She was also the first person to use to term “bug” to describe a glitch in a computer system, after finding an actual moth causing trouble in her computer.

11. Beer

Beer historian Jane Peyton claims that ancient Mesopotamian women were the first to develop, sell, and even drink beer.

12. Paper bag

Margaret Knightwood invented a machine that folded and glued paper to form the flat bottomed brown paper bags in 1868.

13. Kevlar

Stephanie Kwolek invented the super-strong Kevlar fibre.

14. Central heating

Alice Parker invented a system of gas-powered central heating in 1919.

15. Wireless Transmission Technology

Hedy Lamarr co-invented a system of wireless communication which was used during WWII.

16. CCTV

Marie Van Brittan Brown’s inventions are the basis for modern day CCTV systems.

17. Life raft

Maria Beasley invented life raft.

18. Car heater

Margaret Wilcox laid down the design for car heaters.

19. Fire escape

Fire escape was invented in 1887 by Anna Connelly.

20. The computer algorithm

Ada Lovelace made the first computer algorithm.