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The automotive industry has been male-dominated since time immemorial. Men founded most, if not all, car companies and created the cars, too. But some vital contributions and innovations are actually from women, whose names are often overlooked when discussing the industry’s history. One who made a mark is Mary Anderson, the woman who invented the windshield wiper. 

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Before Anderson conceptualized her ingenious cleaning tool, drivers had to deal with visibility issues in the rain or snow. The story goes that Anderson had her eureka moment while visiting New York City in the early 1900s. As she was riding a streetcar (a tram  in today’s world), she observed how the driver frequently stopped the vehicle to manually remove the snow off the windshield. So she came up with a device that could help streetcar drivers clear the windshield from the inside. Her design consisted of a lever-operated wiper blade attached to a spring-loaded arm for easier and faster cleaning of rain, snow, or debris. 

Anderson’s windshield wiper was the first functional design of its kind, but automakers didn’t immediately embrace it. While her patent application was granted in November 1903, she never earned anything from her invention. Still, Anderson is regarded as one of the most influential women in automotive history.

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But of course, there was more to Mary Anderson than how she came up with the idea for the windshield wiper. She was born in Greene County, Alabama on Feb. 19, 1866, to John C. and Rebecca Anderson. After her father’s death in 1870, her family lived off the proceeds of his estate. In 1889, Mary, her mother, and her sister, Fannie, moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where they built the Fairmont Apartments, which the family would own for years.

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However, Anderson wanted more than a quiet life. In 1893, she left home to operate a cattle ranch and vineyard in Fresno, California. She only returned in 1898 to care for an ailing aunt. A few years later, in 1903, she went on a trip to New York — then a rapidly growing metropolis. It was during this trip that she conceived her groundbreaking invention.

Creating the first functional windshield wiper did not lead her anywhere, since a Canadian manufacturing firm said there was no demand for it. Anderson did not let this ruin her spirit, however. She diverted her attention to entrepreneurial pursuits and secured a financially stable life for herself and her family until she died on June 27, 1953, at age 87. Decades later, her invention was formally recognized, and she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011.

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The windshield wiper changed the course of automotive safety, providing drivers with a simple yet crucial tool for maintaining visibility during inclement weather. Before it became standard, drivers dealing with rain, snow, or debris impairing their vision could only resort to stopping and manually wiping the glass with cloth.

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It’s worth noting that Anderson’s invention was manually operated. It had an interior lever that had to be controlled by hand for the spring-loaded arm and rubber blade to run across the windshield. A woman named Charlotte Bridgwood is credited with the automation of the wiper, in 1917, mechanizing the arm so there’s no need to manually operate the lever.

Just like with Anderson, Bridgwood’s effort was not recognized at once. Nevertheless, it helped shape the standard design of modern wiper systems. In 1922 — after her patent had expired – Cadillac became the first manufacturer to equip its vehicles with automatic windshield wipers. The device eventually became an essential feature in all cars.

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Windshield wipers’ current design features removable wiper blades, making it easy for car owners to replace them when they begin to streak, smear, or chatter. (Here’s how to replace your car’s windshield wipers.) Since the wipers are outside, they are at risk of cracking and tearing in the long run. Hence, replacing windshield wipers regularly is recommended.