GEEZ Louise!

The following women's history information was sent to GEEZ Louise by

Teresa Miller, BS CPS
Senior Prevention Specialist
Jackson Recovery Centers

1.  What is five times stronger than steel and resists flames? No, not superman! The answer is Kevlar. This is the “bullet proof” material that protects firefighters, police and military members. It was invented in 1965, by Stephanie Kwolek  She shares 12 patents with other inventors, and holds seven patents under her name alone. 

2.  Lillian Moller Gilbreth was an inventor, author, industrial engineer, industrial psychologist and mother of 12 children.   Between 1910 and 1940, she was a pioneer in the study of ergonomics- making work simpler, more efficient, and less stressful on the human body. Her most famous invention is the trashcan with the foot pedal lid opener.

3.    If your favorite cookie is the chocolate chip variety, you are not alone. Did you know that they were created by accident? In 1930,  Ruth Wakefield was making cookies for guests. She ran out of baker’s chocolate, so she substituted broken pieces of Nestle semi sweet chocolate. The cookies turned out very differently from the ones made with baker’s chocolate. Baker’s chocolate melts, so the cookie is actually just a chocolate cookie. But the substituted pieces did not melt, creating the now famous chocolate chip cookie.

4.     In the 1950’s, this typist had a really great idea to cover typing errors. After watching painters cover mistakes with additional coats of paint, Bette Nesmith Graham began experimenting and created a white liquid known as “Mistake Out.” In 1956 she created a business selling the newly named “Liquid Paper.” She eventually sold the corporation for over 47 million dollars and used much of the money to set up two foundations to help women become financially independent business owners.

5.     In 1933, Virginia Apgar was one of Columbia University’s first female medical doctor graduates. She specialized in surgery, anesthesia, and childbirth. She invented the Newborn Scoring System in 1945 as a method to determine the health of newborn babies. This method is still used today, but has been renamed for its inventor.

1.   While serving with the Navy in the 1940’s, Dr. Grace Hopper was assigned to program the early computers. After World War II, she was the senior programmer for Remington Rand, working on the first large scale commercial computer. She was the inventor of many computer software programs, the recipient of numerous awards for her inventions, and held 30 honorary degrees from many universities.

2.  Anne Moore spent a number of years in Africa. She noticed that women carried their children on their backs as they went about their daily routines. When she had her own child, she wanted to do the same thing, but her “backpack” design was reinvented to become the “Snugli”. Her invention was a success, and made it possible  for parents all over the world to carry their children as they went about their daily activities, including cooking, shopping, and biking.

3.  Who is the most recognized doll on the planet? Barbie! She has gone through many changes since she was created in 1959 by Ruth Handler. Do you know that Barbie couldn’t bend her legs until 1965? Both the Barbie and Ken dolls were named after the inventor’s children.

4.   Laser eye surgeries are quite common now. But it wasn’t always so. In 1975, Dr. Patricia Bath  became the first African American woman surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. There, she was a pioneer in the study and use of lasers for treating eye problems. She is the founder and first president of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.

5.   She is known as “the female Edison”. Margaret Knight began inventing at the age of 12, when she created a stop motion device for textile mill machinery. She wanted to stop those machines instantly to prevent workers from getting caught in the gears and losing an arm. She invented many things still in use today, which is quite remarkable, considering she was born in 1838! Have you ever used a paper bag? She invented the machine that folds the brown paper into the familiar flat bottomed bag.