You’ll never guess who invented the circular saw - a woman!
Her name was Tabitha Babbit. She made a prototype attached to her spinning wheel. Her Shaker community didn’t approve of the patent - but they took the idea and ran with it anyway. Here are some other women behind some great ideas:
* The paper bag: We’d still be stuffing things into paper envelopes if it weren’t for Margaret Knight who came up with the square-bottom variety in 1868.
* Monopoly: Elizabeth Magie sold her original “Landlord’s Game” patent to Parker Brothers for $500 and no royalties.
* Windshield Wipers: A woman, Mary Anderson, came up with the first manual version on 1903. Another woman, Charlotte Bridgewood, invented the automatic version in 1917.
* Signal flares: We had to rely on flags, lamps and the masculine “Thar she blows!” to communicate distress at sea, until they were replaced with Martha Coston’s signal flares in the 1800’s. Her dead husband got the credit though.
We also have women to thank for disposable diapers, the dishwasher, Kevlar, the fire escape, the ironing board, the life raft and the retractable dog leash.
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