Special Sub-Topic: Women Inventors Click Here To Play: Women Inventors

Mary Anderson invented....

The Windshield Wiper. In 1903, Mary took a trip to New York, where she noticed the motorman on a street car she was riding had to get out and wipe off the windshield. She thought up of a lever within the streetcar that would 'activate a swinging arm' to wipe off the ice and water. Mary never sold her invention, but by 1913 they were standard equipment on American cars.

Margaret Knight

The Paper Bag. Margaret Knight of Boston (1838-1914) is credited with about 90 inventions and 22 patents. Knight's greatest success was the first machine to make the square-bottomed paper bags that are still used in grocery stores today.

Randi Altcshul

First Disposable Cell Phone. This is a real cell phone (outgoing messages only) with 60 minutes of calling time and a hands free attachment. You can add more minutes or throw the device away after your calling time is used up. However, with the planned additional magnetic strip the cell phone would double as a credit card, swipeable for purchases with free airtime credits as a bonus.

Patricia Billings

Geobond. Geobond is an indistructable, fireproof building material.

Marion Donovan

Disposable Diaper. Donovan made her first Boater using a shower curtain. Manufacturers thought her product would be too expansive to produce. Donovan, left unable to sell or license her diaper patent, went into business for herself. A few years later, she was able to sell her company for {$1} million.

Helen Free

Home Diabetes Test. Free first developed dry reagents for use in laboratory urinalysis that are now, in tablet form, standard around the world. She went on to develop more consumer-oriented devices. The most important of these was a 'dip-and-read' test that for the first time allowed diabetics to monitor their blood glucose level instantly and at home.

Frances Gabe

Self Cleaning House. At the push of a sequence of buttons, jets of soapy water wash the entire room. Then, after a rinse, the blower dries up any remaining water that hasn't run down the sloping floors into a waiting drain. The sink, shower, toilet and bathtub all clean themselves. The bookshelves dust themselves while a drain in the fireplace carries away ashes. The clothes closet is also a washer and drier combination. The kitchen cabinet is also a {dishwasher;} simply pile in soiled dishes, and don't bother taking them out until they are needed again.

Bette Nesmith Graham

White Out. Graham used her own kitchen blender to mix up her first batch of liquid paper, the substance used to cover up mistakes made on paper.

KK Gregory

Wristies. She invented these in 1994 when she was 10 years old.

Ruth Handler

Barbie. The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara. Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38.