Women Who Invent

February is National Women Inventors Month. This is the time to praise our fellow sisters who have created some of the world’s most interesting and useful inventions. Not surprising at all right. To highlight these super sisters I wanted to gather my top five inventions made by a woman. I started looking into this and was absolutely blown away for two reasons. First like do you actually stop and think that everything around you was at one stage invented. It didn’t exist and then some innovative soul just thought hey, I’m going to make that. The other was to discover just how much women have contributed to society through times when they were also fighting for equal rites and respect. People are simply marvellous. So here we go, come and dig into my top 5 female inventors. 

Jeanne Villepreux-Power (1794 – 1871)

This superhero actually invented the aquarium. I know! The aquarium! No one thought of it before her. The french naturalist was conducting her scientific research on the island of Sicily (I mean could she be more exotic?).  Her research led her to prove that the nautilus, against popular opinion, created its own shell. To do this she created a mini aquarium to observe the nautilus. Obviously it was a woman that thought of something so practical and so simple to solve a problem! Today aquariums come in all shapes and sizes, from those we have at home to ones that take up whole buildings. Just like Jeanne, we can all become our own Marine Biology explorers, even if it’s just for an afternoon, thanks to this wonderful invention. 

Sarah Breedlove

Madam C.J Walker (1867 – 1919)

Believe it or not Kylie Jenner was NOT the first self-made millionaire in the United States. That’s right, Madam C.J. Walker claimed that title way before her. Born Sarash Breedlove, this remarkable woman was the first child born to her family after the emancipation act. Married and widowed by the age of 20, she was working as a laundress when she realised that herself and many other black women were suffering from hair loss and scalp disease due to a lack of indoor plumbing and harsh hair products. In short no one had developed products specifically designed for the African American woman. Sarah Breedlove rebranded herself as Madam C.J. Walker, and created her own range of hair products that would cater to the needs of the African American Woman. More than that she created a school for hair designers that would be trained to use and sell her products. She basically created a whole new industry that would provide employment opportunities and financial stability for African American Women. That’s a pretty huge invention if you ask me. I’ve actually seen a netflix series on this and highly recommend it!

Have you ever used a paper bag? I mean you’d have to be walking around with your head in one to have not to right?! Marvelous Margaret invented a paper bag folding machine that would create the square bottomed paper bag as we know it today. The machine would cut, glue and fold in order to create less injury and more consistent product. The invention was not without drama when a man tried to steal her patent claiming that no one would be smart enough to think of such a thing. Well, good ‘ol Margaret showed him with detailed blueprints and enough evidence to ensure that he was exposed as a fraud and she herself could lay claim to the patent. A pretty huge feat for an era when women’s intellectual abilities could be questioned in the court of law!

Grace Hopper (1906 – 1992)

Literally, as I’m typing, I know that I have Grace Hopper to thank for every word, so I better make them good ones! Grace Hopper worked alongside the team that created the first computer. In the process she herself invented the very first computer programming system. When computers were thought of as tools for arithmetic, hopper knew that she could actually make them talk. It took a while for her colleagues to believe her and like most groundbreaking ideas I’m sure they thought she was crazy… But here we are and her co-invention of the COBOL computer language was the beginning of what we know as computer programming today. 

Virginia Apgar (1909-1974)

Believe it or not this did not always exist. Rather it was invented by a savvy doctor. Described as an innovative anaesthetist and first female professor of Columbia university, this woman was passionate about the care of mother and baby during and after the birthing process. In 1953 she implemented the Apgar score for the first time. While aptly named using her last name the letters are also an anagram for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration. Today it is simply a regular part of birth however at the time, this inclusion of the standardised Apgar test created much needed parameters for doctors to provide immediate and better care for babies that need it. Possibly saving lives. 

Inventors see a problem and find a way to solve it. The problem is that people were not always open minded to where these inventions came from. Women inventors are truly remarkable. Firstly because of their innovative spirit and also their ability to recognise and create things that humanity very much benefits from. Most of all it’s the adversity that they overcame in order to achieve. Today we think ourselves enlightened yet we still see the battle for women to have an equal voice. These women that I have chosen yelled through the white noise, the censorship, the inequality only to change the world with their marvellous inventions. February is National Women Inventors Month. I hope this article can inspire you to make sure we ignite the dreams and imaginations of our young ladies. They are the women of our future and who knows what inventions may come from them!