1. Bette Nesmith Graham was from Dallas and an executive secretary, a divorced woman and a single mother of a boy. Because of this woman, students can now be able to correct their spelling mistakes easily. Whether it’s in office, school or home this liquid paper is very useful. This well organized woman wanted to become an artist and never dreamed that she will become an inventor. She worked as an executive secretary who was pleased and satisfied of her work. Typing errors was her common problem.

   

   Graham remembered that artists mix some colors to cover for their mistakes on canvass. By that, she came up with the idea of using the same method as the artists does. She used water based paint (Latex) and mixed it together to match the color of the stationery she was using. Her boss never noticed that she was using this water based paint to correct her typing errors. Her friend, another secretary saw the liquid she invented and ask for some to correct her typing mistakes also. After a short time, all the secretaries in the building were using the water based paint that she called “Mistake Out” in 1951.

2. Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper. If not for this woman’s windshield wiper, driver’s life will be miserable during bad or stormy weather. Her invention saved millions of people from potential vehicular accidents. She got the idea when she was on her way to New York City.

   

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   Mary Anderson noticed that drivers had to open the windows of their cars when it’s raining in order to see the road, to give solution to this she invented a device with a blade which was made up of rubber that was operated by the driver from the driver seat via a lever. She received her first patent for a window cleaning device in 1903. The windshield wipers became popular equipment to all types of cars on 1916.

3. Mary Phelps Jacob a New York socialite introduced the first modern Brassiere that was invented in 1913. At that time, the only adequate undergarment was a corset stiffened with whale back bones. The corset’s reign was toppled when Mary Phelps designed an alternative to the corset by making a relatively light in weight and in textures and separated the breasts naturally. ‘Brassiere’ was derived from the old French word for ‘upper arm’. Her newly introduced fashion received great demands from her friends, colleague and family. On November 3, 1914, a U.S. patent for the “Backless Brassiere” was issued.

   

   

   However, Jacob as a socialite never enjoyed running business and she soon sold the brassiere patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for $1,500. Over the next thirty years, Warner (not the movie-makers) made over fifteen million dollars from the bra patent.

4. Margaret Knight (Mattie) was born in 1838. Because of this woman, we can go out comfortably and put the grocery items in the paper bag or plastic bag that she invented. She was an employee in a paper bag factory. Paper bags before were more like an envelope. She invented a new machine part that will automatically glue the folded paper bags to create square bottoms. When first installing the equipment, workmen refused her advice. They mistakenly thought her “What does she know about machines?” Later on, in 1970 Margaret Knight founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company.

   

   Margaret Knight is considered by many as “Edison’s female counterpart,” she received as many as 26 patents for such diverse items such as; machine for cutting shoe soles, window frames and sash plus the improvements to internal combustion engines. At the age of 12 years old, Margaret Knight gave an idea on how to shut down machinery that been used for textile mills to prevent workers from being injured. She received her first patent at the age of 30.

5. Patricia Billings a Kansas City-based sculpture artist searched for something to prevent her works from accidentally falling and breaking into pieces. This woman’s contributions were mainly in engineering and construction. After almost two decades of experiments, trial and errors.

   

   She finally found a formula to make her work more durable by mixing a gypsum and concrete, an indestructible plaster, a fire resistant material that will add more long life to artistic works of plastic. Almost all universal construction materials embraced Geobond. This is an ideal replacement for asbestos due to its non-toxic ingredients. In 1997 Patricia Billings received a patent for a fire resistant building material called”Geobond”. It is now being sold almost everywhere in the world. Patricia Billings received a patent in 1997.

6. Dr. Virginia Apgar was one of the first female that obtained a degree in Medicine from the University of Columbia. This woman saved a lot of babies from potential danger due to undetected health problems. She graduated in 1933. Being one of the first American women to specialize in surgery, she became the first-ever full Professor of Anesthesiology in 1949.

   

   Dr. Virginia Apgar’s specialization was in anesthesia and childbirth. She invented the Newborn Scoring System Device, called the Apgar score, in 1949. This device assessed the health of newborns. Dr Virginia Apgar died in 1974.

This article is to give credit and recognition that these great women deserve in any manner, for they are just the few women inventors who greatly contributed to our advancement in life, technology, field of medicine and fashion.