From the periscope to the circular saw: 7 manly things women invented

Women can not only create coziness, bring up children and be a reliable rear for men. They are capable of great deeds! The history of technological progress speaks of this. Many inventions that we cannot do without today were invented and designed by women.

Interestingly, most of these inventions are considered to be truly masculine things – used by the stronger sex in everyday life and professional activities. Although the weaker sex today is not lagging behind, because the modern woman is not only beautiful and smart … With the position of captain of a submarine or the work of a logger, she can also cope!

1. The submarine periscope

In 1845, Sarah Mather patented an underwater telescope in the United States. It allowed to explore the depths of seas, oceans and the hull of a ship. Thanks to this invention, a major breakthrough in technical equipment was made.

Twenty years later, in 1864, Sarah improved her creation and added a detail that allowed the detection of other ships under and above water.

2. Circular saw

In 1810, there was a leap in the lumber industry. This made physically demanding work much easier.

A man sawing a board with a circular saw

Tabitha Babbitt from Massachusetts came up with the prototype of the modern circular saw. After seeing how much effort was wasted by workers using a two-handed saw, the woman decided to modernize the device and proposed a circular blade for cutting wood.

Tabitha Babbitt’s photo can be seen at the very beginning of the article.

3. car “wipers”

There is no surprise here – cleaning has always been considered a woman’s job… But still few people guess that car “wipers” were invented by a representative of the fairer half of humanity.

Mary Anderson

According to encyclopedias, the American farmer Mary Anderson in 1903 was the first who thought of using wiper blades controlled from inside the car. One winter day in New York City, she was riding on a trolley bus and witnessed the driver agonizing over snow stuck on the windshield. He had to stop the vehicle to clear his line of sight.

Mary realized how much inconvenience bad weather causes to motorists. She got the idea to design brushes that would cope with this problem.

4. car muffler

To say thank you for the low noise level from cars is American Elle Dolores Jones. In 1917, she invented and patented an acoustic filter for automobile engines. Since then, the streets have been much quieter and cars have stopped scaring people to death with their wild roars.

5. Snowplow

The author of this useful invention was an ordinary secretary Cynthia Westover. In the distant 1892, she created a prototype of a machine that would help remove snow drifts. The main motivating factor was her love of cleanliness. She designed a contraption that collected snow from the streets.

6. Kevlar

In 1946, Stephanie Kwolek, while working for DuPont Corporation, invented a particularly strong fiber, Kevlar. It is used for reinforcing car tires, optical cables and reinforcing protective elements of clothing – sportswear and body armor.

Stephanie Kwolek

An interesting fact is that Stephanie came to work in the company to raise funds for further education. She dreamed of becoming a medical professional. But after an important invention, she found herself in the chemical industry.

7. High-octane gasoline

In 1945, a woman scientist Anna Mezhlumova from the USSR became famous. With a group of chemists she managed to find the formula for high-octane gasoline (with an octane number of 76).

The discoveries of the employees of the Grozny Research Institute of Petroleum Industry were breakthrough for their time and significant for the whole world. It was thanks to the works of Anna Mezhlumova that the automobile industry was rapidly developed and today millions of cars can drive on the roads. For her large-scale services in science, the scientist received a high award – a gold medal “For Successes in the National Economy of the USSR”.

In addition to a significant discovery – the development of high-octane gasoline – Anna Mezhlumova worked on other inventions. In total, the woman scientist has 24 patents for various developments in the oil field.