May 07
Who invented the windshield
wiper? Mary Anderson, on a
rainy road trip from Alabama
to New York in 1903,realised
how cumbersome it was for
drivers to stop every few
minutes to wipe moisture off
the windscreen. Mary in-
vented a swinging arm de-
vice with a rubber blade that
the driver could operate from
inside the vehicle via a lever.
Snow, rain, sleet or hail, it
could clean anything with a
swing and a swish. Mary got
this wiper patented in No-
vember 1903. By 1916, it
had become standard equip-
ment on all American cars.




















