From Xyza News for Kids
International Women’s Day is March 8th every year. In some countries, the day is seen as a celebration of women or as a reason to protest for women’s rights. Many countries, like Cambodia, Armenia, and Belarus, even regard International Women’s Day as an official holiday.
Why is there a special day for women anyway? The day is meant to recognize women’s rights around the world. In the United States, the 1910 International Women’s Conference in New York City decided to honor women on this date every year. Various versions of the day then appeared across the globe, and nowadays, it’s an important day to honor the progress made for women’s right and to help pave the path ahead for more opportunities for women.
Here at Xyza, we are sharing the achievements of five women that you might not have known were behind some rather interesting ideas. We know there are many amazing women out there, but we ended up picking five inventors that created everyday products you can find in your home today!
If you knew of any of these women already, let us know. Or better still, tell us of a woman YOU admire and we might feature her in our gallery on International Women’s Day!
Hedy Lamarr: Not only was she an actress, but she was probably the original tinkerer. With no official college degree, Lamarr tinkered around with ways to improve traffic lights and carbonated drinks. Her biggest achievement? Her work in 1942 that resulted in Wifi and Bluetooth technology as we know it today!
Mary Anderson: Sometimes a problem nags at you so much that you simply have to solve it. Well, Mary Anderson did just that, inventing the windshield wiper in 1902. She received a patent for her wiper in 1903 but was never fully credited with her useful invention.
Rosalind Franklin: What’s that inside you? DNA! Rosalind Franklin was credited after her death for discovering the double-helix theory of DNA in 1951, one of the anchors for all DNA research work ever since.
Josephine Cochrane: There were many attempts in the late 1800s to create an automatic dishwasher, but it was Cochrane’s version, built with her mechanic in 1886, that caught on and brought us dishwashers as we know them.
Lizzie Magie: If you have a game of Monopoly sitting on your shelf, credit Lizzie Magie, the creator of the game in 1903. Monopoly was first called The Landlord’s Game and was meant to show the ill-effects of monopolies (which means exclusive control, did you know?).
