Yay for women! With international women’s day fresh in our minds, it’s hard to not take some time and think of all the things women have given us. But while some of the things may be quite obvious, there’s a lot of stuff that we all know and use on pretty much a daily basis that were in fact invented by women.
Let’s take a look at some of the best inventions made by the strongest gender.
Kevlar
If your life has ever been saved because of strong safety material, you can thank a woman for that. More specifically, you can thank Stephanie Kwolek for it. She invented Kevlar by accident while she was looking for a lighter fiber for car tires.
Dishwashers
Yup, even women don’t like doing dishes. In fact, the woman that created the first dishwasher, Josephine Cochrane, invented it to make life for her servants easier. Think about it, she’d never even done dishes herself and she could instantly tell it was a problem that needed fixing.
Computers
The computer was invented by Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper, back in 1944. Hopper was actually the one responsible for the word “bug”, as it at the time quite literally meant that there were moths in the computer that needed debugging.
Monopoly
Congratulations, most of the arguments you’ve had with friends and family are a woman’s fault. Elizabeth Magie created the game Monopoly is based on, and she then sold the game to someone else that turned it into the game we all know today. Elizabeth got 500 dollars for her design, with no royalties.
Windshield Wipers
Just imagine not having these bad boys around? When the windshield wipers (manual and electric, both inventions made by women) were initially invented, they weren’t very popular. In fact, it was only after the patent expired that car brands started using them on their models.
Paper Bags
Margaret Knight invented the modern paper bag back in 1868 when she invented a machine that allowed the bags to be produced with a flat bottom. A man tried to steal her design and patent it first, but she won it back in 1871.
Circular Saws
A tool probably mainly associated with men was in fact invented by a woman. The story of its invention is a tale as old as time: a woman telling men how to do things. She saw men lumbering wood with a two-man saw and figured it’d be easier if the saw just cut in circular motions.
Disposable Diapers
The diapers we all know and love today were actually invented by a woman named Marion Donovan. Her initial design was mostly a waterproof diaper cover, but after selling her patent for $1 million, it was upgraded to a disposable model.
