This Women’s History Month, Her Campus is celebrating what it means to be a woman in 2021 while honoring the trailblazing women of our past. We want to shine a spotlight on women inventors who changed the world with their groundbreaking creations, from innovative technology to our favorite snacks and everything in between. Here are ten trailblazing women to know about who shook up the world with their iconic inventions.
- Melitta Bentz
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Coffee filter
My daily routine wouldn’t be complete without a delicious cup of coffee, and I have German entrepreneur Melitta Bentz to thank for this. In search of a way to make a cleaner cup of coffee, she had the idea to punch holes in a brass pot and use paper to create a two-part filtration system. In 1908, the coffee filter (and drip coffee) was born! Over 100 years later, her innovation helps us enjoy rich drip coffee, pour-over, and more. From my coffee-loving heart, thank you, Melitta.
- Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner
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Sanitary belt
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner started inventing at age six and currently holds the record for the greatest number of patents awarded to a Black woman. Her first patent was in 1957 for the sanitary belt, an innovation that helped women during a time when menstruation was highly stigmatized. While many women resorted to staying home during their period, Kenner’s patent featured an adjustable belt that ultimately gave women the freedom to comfortably leave their homes and get on with life (as we all deserve)!
- Josephine Cochrane
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Dishwasher
Josephine Cochrane was a socialite who often entertained guests at home. When she noticed that her fine china would chip while being washed in the sink, she designed a contraption with water jets and a dishrack in hope of solving the problem. She built the first-ever dishwasher in the shed behind her house and soon began getting requests from friends who wanted one for themselves. Eventually, local restaurants and hotels showed interest, too, and the rest is history!
- Katharine Burr Blodgett
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Invisible glass
American scientist Katharine Burr Blodgett was an accomplished engineer, the first woman to get a Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University, and the first woman to be hired as a scientist at General Electric. We have her to thank for inventing non-reflecting or “invisible” glass, an innovation that she later applied to improve eyeglasses, camera lenses, aircraft materials, and more. Fun fact: she also developed smoke screens that helped protect the military in World War II — is there anything women inventors can’t do?
- Grace Hopper
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The compiler
Grace Hopper’s childhood dream was to join the US Navy, even though women weren’t allowed at the time. When she eventually joined, she impressed her male colleagues so much that they sent her to Harvard to work on a new machine called the MARK I — AKA the first computer in the United States. After writing its 561-page manual, she then invented a compiler to translate mathematical code into machine-readable form. This was a massive step toward creating modern computer programming languages, and Hopper’s dedication and innovative nature earned her the posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
- Dr. Shirley Jackson
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Caller ID and call waiting
Dr. Shirley Jackson is the first Black woman to earn a doctorate from MIT, and to this day, she’s been awarded 53 honorary doctoral degrees (yes, you read that right) for her incredible work across academia, research, and government. Her breakthrough research led to the invention of modern-day communication, from the fax machine to the technology behind caller ID and call waiting. Dr. Jackson was also awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for science and engineering, in 2015.
- Madam C.J. Walker
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Natural hair care products
Madam C.J. Walker is regarded as the first Black woman self-made millionaire in America, all thanks to her invention of a homemade line of specialized hair products for Black women. After a personal experience with hair loss, Walker began experimenting with home remedies and eventually developed a formula to promote hair growth. The product helped her friends, and the rest is history. (Fun fact: Walker was also portrayed by fellow legend Octavia Spencer in the TV show Self Made)!
- Rosalind Franklin
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DNA/double helix
While many people believe that famous scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s, it was Rosalind Franklin’s work that made it all possible. During her time at King’s College London, she and Ph.D. student Raymond Gosling captured the famous Photo 51, an image that ultimately helped decipher the double helix structure of DNA. Her work as a chemist and X-ray crystallographer was crucial, and while her contributions weren’t acknowledged at the time, Crick noted (after her passing) that Franklin’s contribution had been critical to the discovery of the double helix.
- Ruth Wakefield
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Chocolate chip cookies
My gratitude for Ruth Wakefield, the woman who (accidentally) invented chocolate chip cookies in 1930, knows no bounds. One day, she was mixing a batch of cookies for her guests at the Toll House Inn (sound familiar?) when she discovered that she was out of baker’s chocolate. Instead, she substituted broken pieces of Nestle’s semisweet chocolate, expecting it to melt and create pure chocolate cookies. Much to her surprise, that didn’t happen, but the surprising result was a perfect “chocolate chip cookie.” Truly, Ruth, thank you for my favorite dessert of all — this is, by far, the best accident of all time.
- Marion Donovan
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Disposable diapers
When Marion Donovan graduated college, she moved to New York City to work as an assistant beauty editor at Vogue. She then went on to become one of the most successful women inventors of her era with her invention of “The Boater,” AKA the precursor to disposable diapers. Motivated by the frustration of repeatedly changing her daughter’s cloth diapers, clothes, and bedsheets, Donovan invented a breathable product to help. Although she was originally mocked and turned down by manufacturers she approached, Donovan received her patent in 1951 and sold the rights that year for $1 million.
I can’t imagine where we’d be without these remarkable women. From crucial household appliances to my all-time favorite dessert, there’s no doubt that these inventors have made history and their legacies live on to this day. As a woman, I’m reminded that we always stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. This Women’s History Month, I’m taking a moment to celebrate these amazing women inventors who changed the game and gave us incredible inventions in the process.