[custom_adv] Monopoly The original version of Monopoly was called The Landlord's Game and was invented by Elizabeth Magie in 1903. In the 1930s, Charles Darrow ripped off her game and sold it to Parker Brothers at Monopoly. When Parker Brothers found out Charles Darrow had stolen the idea for Monopoly, they tracked down Elizabeth and paid her for her patent. [custom_adv] Fire Escape The first fire escape was invented by Anna Connelly in 1887. Can you imagine what we would do if we didn't have a safe way to get out of buildings during fires? [custom_adv] Modern Syringe In 1899, Letitia Geer invented a one-hand-operated medical syringe. Although syringes existed before that, Letitia's invention allowed doctors to use just one hand to operate syringes. [custom_adv] Modern Paper Bag Paper bags used to look a lot like envelopes. It wasn't until Margaret Knight invented a machine to attach flat bottoms to the bags that they became what we think of as modern paper bags. Margaret got the patent for her machine in 1871. [custom_adv] Foot Pedal Trash Can Lillian Gilbreth, who is most famous for being the inspiration for the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, came up with a number of household inventions. Lillian and her husband had 12 kids, so efficiency was everything. [custom_adv] Ice Cream Maker Nancy Johnson invented a small hand-cranked ice cream maker in the 1840s and got a patent for it in 1843. Although there are more efficient ice cream makers now, many still use some elements from Nancy's designs. [custom_adv] Windshield Wiper In 1903, Mary Anderson invented the first windshied wipers. Before that, drivers had to get out of their cars to wipe off their windshields in the rain/snow. Nobody appreciated her invention at the time, but in 2011 she was posthumously inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. [custom_adv] Disposable Diapers In 1951, Marion Donovan invented a waterproof diaper cover to keep soiled cloth diapers from leaking. A few years later, she created the first-ever waterproof disposable diapers. [custom_adv] Dishwasher Josephine Cochrane, a wealthy woman born in 1839, was frustrated that her servants kept chipping her fine china while washing it, so she came up with a design for an automatic dishwasher. In 1893, she presented her dishwashing machine at the Chicago World's Fair. [custom_adv] Retractable Dog Leash Mary A. Delaney invented the first ever retractable dog leash in 1908. She wanted dogs to have some freedom while they were walking with their owners, but not so much freedom that they could run away or get into trouble. [custom_adv] Liquid Paper Bette Nesmith Graham worked as a typist in the 1950s when she came up with a typewriter correction fluid originally known as "Mistake Out." When she began her own company, she changed the name of the paint-like substance to "Liquid Paper." [custom_adv] Chocolate Chip Cookies Ruth Graves Wakefield was working at the Toll House Inn in the late 1930s when she created the chocolate chip cookie by adding chopped-up bits of a Nestlé bar to a cookie dough. The cookie was a huge hit, and it caused a spike in the sales of Nestlé bars. Later, Nestlé started marketing chocolate chips specifically for cookies, and they made a deal with Toll House to print the cookie recipe on its package. [custom_adv] CCTV In the 1960s, Marie Van Brittan Brown created a home security system that was the basis for modern-day closed-circuit systems used by police and security. [custom_adv] Car Heater Margaret Wilcox invented the first car heater in 1893. The original heater directed warm air from the engine over drivers' feet.
