The history of humanity is full of injustices of all kinds. From the barbarity of wars to intellectual theft. And women know this well, since many of them were not recognized for their achievements. In a world that has traditionally been dominated by men, there was little room for female creativity, inventiveness and genius. And in this context, there were dozens, even hundreds, women’s inventions attributed to men.
His merits were erased from history, and his laurels passed to the pages of books with male names. Fortunately, the change of times has brought with it new concepts of equality, new spaces in which the women of the current generations can enjoy their achievements, and in which those who remained in history can be rescued and enhanced. Today in Supercurioso we present the stories of some of these women who were not recognized for their achievements. Join us!
Learn about the inventions of women who were not recognized for their achievements
1. The structure of DNA
2. Nuclear fission
3. Wireless communication
Another of the women who were not recognized for their achievements was a Hollywood legend, who also had the ingenuity to find a scientific creation of enormous value. It was about Hedy Lamarr, who was the inventor of wireless communication.
He worked alongside musician George Antheil to develop his “frequency hopping” idea that would have prevented military radios from being intercepted. Although the idea was brilliant, being a woman and also an actress, it was not taken into account.
The most curious thing is that some time later technologies based on his original invention began to be developed, without giving him any credit. PLuckily, a researcher discovered the original patent and Lamarr received the Electronic Frontier Foundation award, shortly before her death, in the year 2000. She was one of the few female inventors of this list, who received recognition in life.
4. Windshield wipers
The next of the women’s inventions attributed to men is located in the automotive field. And although to honor the truth, most of the inventions in this area were made by men, there is one that belonged to a woman, who was not recognized as she deserved.
It is about the windshield wipers, which were created in 1903, by Mary Anderson. Although he applied for and obtained a patent, and offered his idea to car companies, it was rejected by all. But the most unusual thing about it is that, after his patent expired, the car companies reproduced the windshield wipers on all their models, without giving her any credit or financial compensation.
5. The jumping genes
We return to the field of biology to tell you about the next among the women who were not recognized for their achievements. It was the North American biologist Bárbara Mcclintock, who discovered what is known as jumping genes. In her experiments, Barbara realized that genes did not always occupy the same place on chromosomes, but rather had the ability to move or “jump.”
At the time, his colleagues rejected the finding. It was not until two decades later, when other scientists, by different routes, reached the same conclusion. Fortunately, she was recognized with the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1963.
6. Dark matter
Next among the women who were not recognized for their achievements was Vera Rubin, who made amazing progress in the field of dark matter. She was an astrophysicist who worked in this subject area during the 60’s and 70’s, in the company of his colleague, Kent Ford.
Together they studied matters such as the functioning of galaxies, as well as the movement of stars, unusually fast and without disintegrating. The calculations she arrived at as a researcher led her to suppose that there was an invisible force at play called “dark matter”.. Although his generation mates were reluctant, some renowned physicists soon began to value the idea, giving space to dark matter in science. Even so, it was never recognized in the scientific community.
7. Monopoly
Most of us have played Monopoly at least once in our lives. But there are few who know that this popular board game is one of the inventions of women attributed to men. As ironic as it may seem, its creator intended with the game to make a protest to the monopoly of men.
America’s favorite board game was created by Elizabeth Magie Philips. It was originally called The Owner’s Game, and its objective was to criticize the system and the leaders of the great monopolies of the time. Philips applied for a patent in 1903 and his game began to gain popularity.
But just as it was spreading across the country like a fad, Charles Durow stepped in and copyrighted a similar version, but with some changes, which he called Monopoly. Easier to play, it was the one that later spread throughout the world.
8. The modern bra
And although the very idea is, to say the least, unusual, the modern bra is another of the inventions of women attributed to men. Its true creator was the socialite Caresse Crosby in the early 1900s. The girl was only about 19 years old, when, in the middle of her preparation for a dance, she improvised with silk scarves, with strings, ribbons and a needle with thread, to create the first version of the bra.
In 1914, he patented his invention, which he called a backless bra. He also created a company to market it, the Fashion Form Brassiere Company in Boston. But a short time later he would sell his design for only 1,350 euros, to Warner Brothers Corset. The company removed Caresse’s name from the garment’s history, and marketed it, earning at least €13 million for it, over the next thirty years.
It was also the one that had the brilliant idea of tackling the case of the most famous gangster in history, not for his crimes but for a much simpler crime, tax evasion. It was she who thought of this possibility, which is currently considered a common procedure, but which at that time represented a simply amazing judicial revolution.