# Inventions by women that changed the world

From the dishwasher to Kevlar, from the windscreen wiper to the basis of wifi: inventions by women that we use every day, often without knowing who was behind them. Which one matters most to you?

- 79 votes · 20 items
- May 2, 2021 · Eduardo Vargas
- https://even.best/en/l/2295/inventions-by-women-that-changed-the-world

## Top 20

1. **Frequency hopping (Hedy Lamarr)** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — In 1942 the actress came up with the technique behind wifi, Bluetooth and GPS.
2. **The first algorithm (Ada Lovelace)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — In 1843 she wrote the first program for Babbage's engine.
3. **The life raft (Maria Beasley)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Her 1882 design was used on the Titanic.
4. **The dishwasher (Josephine Cochrane)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Patented in 1886 because her dishes kept breaking.
5. **Liquid Paper (Bette Nesmith Graham)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — A secretary who covered her mistakes with white paint.
6. **The hand-cranked ice cream maker (Nancy Johnson)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — The crank machine for making ice cream, from 1843.
7. **The flat-bottomed paper bag (Margaret Knight)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — She invented the machine that makes them and won a lawsuit to patent it.
8. **The game behind Monopoly (Elizabeth Magie)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The Landlord's Game, patented in 1904.
9. **The waterproof nappy (Marion Donovan)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — She made the first one from a shower curtain in 1946.
10. **The one-handed syringe (Letitia Geer)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Patented in 1899.
11. **The windscreen wiper (Mary Anderson)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Patented in 1903, long before cars were everywhere.
12. **Kevlar (Stephanie Kwolek)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — The fibre in bulletproof vests, discovered in 1965.
13. **The solar house (Mária Telkes)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — With architect Eleanor Raymond, the first house heated only by the sun, in 1948.
14. **Non-reflective glass (Katharine Blodgett)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — A coating that improved cameras, glasses and projectors.
15. **Laser cataract surgery (Patricia Bath)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Her Laserphaco gave sight back to millions.
16. **The compiler (Grace Hopper)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — The pioneer who taught computers to understand something like English.
17. **Chocolate chip cookies (Ruth Wakefield)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Born at her Toll House restaurant in 1938.
18. **The coffee filter (Melitta Bentz)** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — She made it in 1908 with blotting paper from her son's notebooks.
19. **The modern bra (Mary Phelps Jacob)** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — She made it with two handkerchiefs and a ribbon and patented it in 1914.
20. **The mechanical encyclopedia (Ángela Ruiz Robles)** (-1 · ▲2 ▼3) — The Galician teacher anticipated the e-book in 1949.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.