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It\u2019s perhaps a sad truth that many people would be hard-pressed to name a famous woman inventor from history \u2013 or, if they can, they might only name one or two. Even Google seems rather biased in this matter; look for \u2018famous inventors\u2019 on the search engine and you will be delivered a carousel of more than 20 men before you reach the first woman (self-made millionaire Madam CJ Walker<\/a>, in case you\u2019re wondering).<\/p>\n In actuality there are a plethora of remarkable women from history worth knowing about in the field of invention. Many home comforts we enjoy today are the result of female innovation \u2013 from chocolate chip cookies and disposable diapers to central heating and dishwashers. Incredible women-led discoveries abound in the fields of science, technology, engineer and medicine \u2013 from simple improvements to everyday appliances through to truly world-changing discoveries.<\/p>\n Here, we\u2019ve rounded up five worth knowing about\u2026<\/p>\n Who? <\/strong>Ruth Graves Wakefield<\/p>\n What?<\/strong> Chocolate chip cookies<\/p>\n When?<\/strong> 1938<\/p>\n They\u2019re a popular staple in many kitchen cupboards today, so it may be a surprise to learn that chocolate chip cookies didn\u2019t exist before 1938. We can thank American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield for the existence of the delicious treat; according to urban legend, she invented the classic recipe after running out of baker\u2019s chocolate while making cookies for guests at her tourist lodge, the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Plymouth County. Reluctant to run to the grocery store, she crumbled up some Nestl\u00e9\u2019s semi-sweet chocolate and added it to her mixing bowl, expecting it to melt into the dough during the cooking process. To her surprise, the little chunks of chocolate stayed intact and thus the chocolate chip \u2018Toll House\u2019 cookie was born \u2013 or so the story goes anyway. Wakefield herself denies this is how her cookies were created and instead attests that it was all entirely deliberate.<\/p>\n The recipe featured in a newspaper article; however it was perhaps thanks to US soldiers that the cookies reached a wider worldwide audience. During the Second World War, \u00a0soldiers stationed overseas would share the cookies they received in care packages and news quickly spread about their deliciousness. Wakefield and Nestl\u00e9 soon agreed an arrangement for the chocolate company to market her cookies (allegedly, the American chef received just one dollar and a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate as part of this deal). Today, chocolate chip cookies command a remarkable place within the culinary market; they\u2019re worth more than $18 billion\/year in the US. Who?<\/strong> Lizzie Magie<\/p>\n What?<\/strong> Monopoly<\/p>\n When?<\/strong> 1903<\/p>\n It\u2019s the source of many family arguments at Christmas, but whether you love it or hate it Monopoly continues to command a place as one of the most well-known board games<\/a> of all time. Yet the game\u2019s little-known inventor would be turning in her grave if she knew how people seek to win the game today (a process that involves acquiring the most property on the board and gradually increasing your wealth by taxing all those unfortunate to land on your spaces).<\/p>\n Born in Illinois in 1866, Elizabeth \u2018Lizzie\u2019 Magie was fiercely political and an outspoken activist; she once took out a newspaper advertisement selling herself as a \u201cyoung woman American slave\u201d to express her frustration about traditional gender roles. Her early version of the game that is now known as Monopoly was initially called the Landlord\u2019s Game \u2013 and it was firmly intended to highlight the evils of capitalism. Popular with left-wing intellectuals and university academics, Magie wanted players to experience a \u201cpractical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n She had two sets of rules for the game. The first dictated that every player benefitted whenever someone acquired new property, with everyone winning only when the player who had the least amount of money at the start of the game had doubled it. The second set of rules is more akin to the version of the game played today, with the winner being whoever bankrupts the rest.<\/p>\n The patent for the game was eventually sold to a games company called Parker Brothers. They relaunched it with just one set of rules (in which you are forced to crush your opponents to come out on top). Who? <\/strong>Josephine G Cochran<\/p>\n What? <\/strong>Dishwasher<\/p>\n When? <\/strong>1886<\/p>\n Technically speaking, Josephine G Cochrane wasn\u2019t the first person to invent the dishwasher; this accolade goes to Joel Houghton, who patented a simple device made of wood in 1850. Operated by hand, this early dishwashing system was both inefficient and never really enjoyed much success. More than 30 years later, wealthy socialite Josephine Cochrane was frustrated that her expensive china was frequently damaged by servants during hand-washing. She began tinkering away in a shed in her garden designing concepts for dishwashing, and eventually brought her idea to fruition with the help of a mechanic named George Butters. The machine was displayed at the World\u2019s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where it won the prize for \u201cbest mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work\u201d and drew the attention of a number of restaurants and hotels.<\/p>\n Cochrane was posthumously recognised for her contribution to the consumer home market in 2006, when she was awarded a place in the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Who?<\/strong> Beatrice Shilling<\/p>\n What?<\/strong> Early aeroplane technical device<\/p>\n When? <\/strong>1940s<\/p>\n Beatrice Shilling<\/a> was born in March 1909 in the small Hampshire village of Waterlooville. She bought her first motorbike at the age of 14\u00a0 and later trained as an engineer \u2013 something that was incredibly difficult for women to do at the time \u2013 before securing a job as a technical officer at the Royal Air Establishment at Farnborough in the 1930s.<\/p>\n When the Battle of Britain<\/a> started in July 1940, it soon became clear that there was a serious problem: the Luftwaffe\u2019s planes had fuel-injected engines, whereas the RAF<\/a>\u2019s didn\u2019t. This meant that whenever a British pilot went into a dive to shake off an enemy plane, the engine would splutter and sometimes cut out entirely.<\/p>\nRuth Graves Wakefield<\/h3>\n<\/div>
\u00a0Lizzie Magie<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
Josephine G Cochran<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u00a0Beatrice Shilling<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n