20 Women Inventors You Should Know

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Posted on November 9, 2020

[Some of the woman inventors listed at the link above]

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Margaret E. Knight (1838 - 1914)

If you've ever used a paper bag, you can thank Margaret "Mattie" Knight, the 19th century's most famous woman inventor! Born in York, Maine, Knight was most well-known for a machine she built when she was 30 which folded and glued paper to create a flat-bottomed paper bag. The product was popular — so popular, in fact, that a man stole the idea to patent himself. When Knight took him to court for patent interference, he argued that a woman "could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities." Knight won her case by providing proof that she had designed the machine, earning herself the right to patent her machine. Over the course of her career, Knight invented over 100 different machines and patented 20 of them, including a rotary engine, a shoe-cutting machine, and a window frame with a sash. But if the true test of an invention is its staying power, then Knight's paper bag — still used today — is proof of her incredible gifts.


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Grace Hopper (1906 - 1992)

Any time you type a command on your computer, you can thank programming pioneer Grace Hopper! The mathematician and US Navy reserve officer began her computer science career when all programs were written in numerical code. Hopper realized that programming would be more accessible if people could code in their own language; she invented the first compiler in 1952, essentially teaching computers to "talk." It took some time for her colleagues to realize that she had succeeded: "Nobody believed that...They told me computers could only do arithmetic." She later co-invented the COBOL computer language, the first universal programming language used in business and government. During Hopper's long career with the Navy — during which she achieved the rank of Rear Admiral by special Presidential appointment and was nicknamed "Amazing Grace" — she took particular pride in teaching: "The most important thing I've accomplished, other than building the compiler, is training young people," she said. "I keep track of them as they get older and I stir 'em up at intervals so they don't forget to take chances."

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Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000)

She was one of the most glamorous stars of the black and white film era — and she was also one of the minds behind an invention that provided the foundation for GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi technology! Austrian-American actress Hedy Lamarr was also a gifted mathematician and engineer, and when World War II broke out, she wanted to make a contribution to the war effort by improving torpedo technology. Working with musician and composer George Antheil, Lamarr developed the idea of "frequency hopping," which could encrypt torpedo control signals, preventing enemies from jamming them and sending the torpedoes off course. Although Lamarr and Antheil were granted a patent for the idea in 1942, the US Navy ignored their technology for 20 years, finally putting it to use during a 1962 blockade of Cuba. Since then, though, Lamarr's spread-spectrum technology has become the foundation for the portable devices that we use every day, for which she was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2014.


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