1. THE CAR HEATER

The first car heater, which directed air from over the engine to warm the chilly toes of aristocratic 19th-century motorists,

was invented by Margaret A. Wilcox in 1893.

2. The Monopoly

One of the most famous board games of all time, responsible for endless hours of wholesome family fun was invented by Elizabeth Magie in

1904 under the original name The Landlord’s Game. Magie’s game was a critique of the injustices of unchecked capitalism, making it all the more

ironic when her game was completely ripped off ( stolen from) by Charles Darrow 30 years later, who sold it to Parker Brothers. The firm eventually

tracked down Magie and paid her $500 for her troubles.

3. THE FIRE SCAPE

This device, so vital both to public safety and the smoking habits of urban hipsters (hippie) , was

invented in 1887 by Anna Connelly.

4. THE LIFE BOAT

One day in 1882, Maria Beasely looked out at the sea and said, “People should, like, stop dying in huge transportation disasters.”

And then she invented life rafts.

5. Residential solar heating

Physicist and solar-power pioneer Dr. Maria Telkes teamed the architect Eleanor Raymond, to build the first home entirely heated

by solar power in 1947.

6. Kevlar

The chemist Stephanie Kwolek invented the super-strong Kevlar fibre, used to make bulletproof vests. Kwolek’s invention is five

times stronger than steel.

7. Computer Software

Dr Grace Murray Hopper, a rear admiral in the U.S. navy, was also a computer scientist who invented COBOL, “the first user-

friendly business computer software program”. She was also the first person to use to term “bug” to describe a glitch in a

computer system.

8. BEER

Beer is totally a girl’s drink. Beer historian Jane Peyton claims that ancient Mesopotamian women were the first to develop, sell, and even drink beer

9. THE CCTV

Marie Van Brittan Brown’s system for closed-circuit television security, patented in 1969, was intended to help people ensure their own security, as police were slow to respond to calls for

help in her New York City neighbourhood. Her invention forms the basis for modern CCTV systems used for home security and

police work today.

10. Wireless transmissions technology

Hedy Lamarr’s invention of a secret communications system during World War II for radio-

controlling torpedoes, employing “frequency hopping” technology, laid the

technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS.

She also happened to be a world-famous film star.

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11. Many telecommunications technology

The theoretical physicist Dr Shirley Jackson was the first

black woman to receive a Ph.D. from MIT, in 1973. While

working at Bell Laboratories, she conducted breakthrough basic scientific research that enabled

others to invent the portable fax, touch tone telephone, solar cells, fiber optic cables, and the technology behind caller ID and

call waiting.

12.The computer algorithm

Ada Lovelace, whose father was Lord Byron, was encouraged by her scientist mother from a young age to become a champion of

mathematics. Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage at the University of London on his plans for an “analytic engine” (i.e. old-timey computer) to develop ways to program the machine with mathematical algorithms, essentially making her “the first

computer programmer”.