Mary Anderson

Country:

Birth/Death:

Claim to Fame: Inventor of the windshield wiper

Hometown: Birmingham, Alabama

Facts:

In November of 1903 Mary Anderson got her first patent for a window cleaning device.

Anderson conceived the idea during a trip to New York. While on a street car she noticed that when it was snowing the drivers had to get out and clean the snow off the windshield. She came up with a design for a wiper with a swinging arm and a rubber blade that was operated by the driver from inside the vehicle.

Although some were skeptical of the new invention by 1916 her windshield wipers were standard on every car. Thanks Mary!