AKA A. Mary Anderson

Born: 19-Feb-1866
Birthplace: Burton Hill Plantation, Greene County, AL
Died: 27-Jun-1953
Location of death: Monteagle, TN
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham, AL

Gender: Female
Religion: Presbyterian [1]
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Inventor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Inventor of the windshield wiper

Issued US patent No. 743,801 on 10 November 1903, for the first windshield wiper. Her wiper operated manually, when a lever was pulled. She conceived the idea in 1902, while riding on a trolley car in New York City during foul weather. Over the lifetime of the patent, it was unused, and not until much later were windshield wipers issued as standard equipment. Charlotte Bridgewood in 1917 patented the "Electric Storm Windshield Cleaner", using a roller mechanism. In 1921, an electric windshield wiper was invented by Fred and William Folberth, but it is not until a decade later that wipers resemble what they do today.