A cup of coffee, a dishwasher, a hair brush, programming languages. It is hard to imagine our daily lives without these things. At first glance, simple, but such important inventions simplified the lives of people around the world.
Material Content:
- 1 1 - Melitta Benz made coffee easier
- 2 2 - Mary Anderson made car rides safer
- 3 3 - Mabel Williams created the first mascara
- 4 4 - Grace Hopper was the creator of the first computer program
- 5 5 - Lida Newman and the world's first hair brush
- 6 6 - Bulletproof vest
- 7 7 - Paper bag
- 8 8 - Fire escape
- 9 9 - Boats on the ship
- 10 10 - Signal flashes on sinking ships
- 11 11 - Medical syringe
- 12 12 - Checking the condition of the newborn on the Apgar scale
- 13 13 - A house that is heated by solar energy
- 14 14 - Stem Cell Technology
- 15 15 - Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 16 16 - Beer (yes, beer)
1 - Melitta Benz made coffee easier
In the West, most coffee lovers prefer to brew their favorite drink not in Turk, but in coffee machines or manually using filter bags. Melitta Benz was the first person to replace the long process of brewing coffee through a cloth. This accelerated the process of preparing the drink at times and made it more concentrated, and therefore invigorating.
2 - Mary Anderson made car rides safer
Automobile "wipers" were also invented by a woman. Once Mary Anderson ordered a taxi in New York to get to work at a restaurant as quickly as possible. Due to a snowstorm on the road, an impressive traffic jam formed from cars. Drivers did not see where to go, so passengers had to get out of transport and get to their destination on foot.
Mary considered this situation to be very stupid and illogical and a few weeks later she presented a drawing of the world's first windshield wipers for a car. The project was rated by her husband. Soon, the invention was patented and used on every machine in the world.
3 - Mabel Williams created the first mascara
For a long time, the girls were very limited in creating makeup, since the necessary cosmetic products simply did not exist. For eyeliner, many used regular charcoal, which did not look very nice and harmed the skin.
In 1915, Mabel Williams mixed black clay dust, petroleum jelly and various aromatic oils. She got an excellent tool that could be applied to the eyelashes, visually increasing their volume. So the first mascara was created. Brother Meybel saw the potential in this invention and helped the girl create her own store, which was engaged in retail trade and sent mascara across the country through a mailing list.
From one store, the business has developed into a large-scale trading network. The company still exists and is known worldwide - it is Maybelline New York.
4 - Grace Hopper was the creator of the first computer program
All computers work through logical instructions that are described by a person, and then are translated into the device’s memory and translated into machine code. Grace Hopper was the leader of a team of engineers who created the first programming language in the world and laid the foundation for the development of world technological progress.
Hopper was one of the engineers in the U.S. Army during World War II. She worked on the Mark I computer at Harvard. The Grace Hopper team created the world's first compiler and programming language COBAL, on the basis of which all modern machine codes were built.
5 - Lida Newman and the world's first hair brush
Today, hair brushes are a common hygiene item for every person. It is difficult to imagine that at the end of the XVIII century such a product was considered something unusual and very expensive. For the first time, a hair brush was introduced by Lida Newman in 1898. The woman worked as a hairdresser in her own salon for women.
Her invention helped solve the problem of combing hair, which was faced by most women of that time. In particular, the brushes helped the owners of the African type of hair, since earlier it was simply impossible to comb them.
6 - Bulletproof vest
A bulletproof vest is a landmark invention that has helped save countless lives, both among the military and civilians in war zones around the world. The first such vest was created in 1964 by the chemist Stephanie Kwolek. She worked on various compounds of several materials to create more durable car tires.
Kevlar vests are 5 times stronger than steel. Today, this invention is used in defense around the world.
7 - Paper bag
In 1868, Margaret Knight invented a special machine that folded, cut and glued paper in such a way that a packet was obtained. This was the first case in the world of planned promotion to the masses of ecological packaging. Today it is a simple, but such a brilliant invention is used everywhere - from small shops to the world's largest retail chains and restaurants.
8 - Fire escape
In order to combat the ever-increasing number of fire deaths caused by the continuous construction of new residential complexes, a series of building safety laws were passed in New York in 1861. Everyone was required to install special external stairs, which should be used as an emergency exit in case of fire. Everyone saw similar stairs in American films. Anna Connelly invented this useful thing and eventually made the construction of the stairs more durable.
9 - Boats on the ship
At one time, Mary Beasley was a kind of engineering genius.She first patented pedestrian crossings, bike paths, devices against the descent of trains. However, her most significant contribution to the history of human development was the lifeboats invented in 1882 for ships.
10 - Signal flashes on sinking ships
Martha Costen has been working for 10 years on a project to create a reliable sinking ship warning system. Her work has become the basis for modern signaling technologies that are used by the US Navy.
11 - Medical syringe
The first medical syringe was created by Letitta Gere in 1899.
12 - Checking the condition of the newborn on the Apgar scale
The Apgar scale is better known as the best methodology for assessing the health of a newborn baby. The first such assessment was proposed by the American Virginia Apgar in 1952.
13 - A house that is heated by solar energy
The ingenious biophysicist and inventor, Maria Telks, was one of the leaders of the movement that advocated the use of solar energy in the 1940s. In 1947, she created the first thermoelectric heating system, and in 1953, the first 100% solar heating system was designed for a private house.
14 - Stem Cell Technology
No scientist has ever been so bold as to claim to work with stem cells. None but Ann Tsukamoto. She was one of three people who received a patent for the process of isolating human stem cells in 1991.
15 - Chocolate Chip Cookies
With all due respect to solar energy and computers, these inventions are still much lower in the list of “Most Useful Things in the World” than the following invention. Ruth Graves Wakefield knew this and came up with chocolate chip cookies in the 1930s.
16 - Beer (yes, beer)
Although it will never be known exactly who was the real inventor of beer, the historian and founder of the Drink School, Jane Peyton, claims to be women. Conducting an extensive study of the origin of beer in her book, The School of Drinking, Peyton in 2010 determined that almost 7,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, women were highly regarded for their ability to brew a hop drink.
