Born: 19 February 1866, United States
Died: 27 June 1953
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
American real estate developer, rancher and viticulturist (grape grower) Mary Anderson is best known as the inventor of the windshield wiper for cars. She was granted her first patent on 10 November 1903, but no manufacturing companies would agree to mass-produce the device, which were controlled from within the car to clean its windows. At the time, drivers simply accepted that if driving in snow, for example, the driver would have to lean out their window to clear the obstruction, or pull over to do so. Cars were also still relatively rare in the early 1900s. Manufacturers didn’t see a market, and even thought the wipers presented a risk of distracting the driver. By the time Cadillac became the first car manufacturer to include wipers as standard in 1922, it was two years after Anderson’s patent had expired in 1920. She never profited from her invention, though many others did. More than a century after receiving her patent, however, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011.