How often do you use the windshield wipers on your car?  Are you grateful you have them in the middle of a bad storm?  I know I am!  And I did not realize the history behind this essential item.  On a trip to New York City one winter, Mary Anderson of Birmingham, Alabama was in a trolley car trying to enjoy the sights of this glorious city.  She noticed that the trolley car driver had to sometimes stick his head out the window to see, and he could only wipe the snow off the windshield with his hand.  That evidently got this woman to thinking.  And Mary Anderson began to sketch a device to help with this issue.  Her wiper device was a set of wiper arms made of wood and rubber that attached to a lever near the steering wheel of the drivers’ side.  The driver merely had to pull the lever, and the spring-loaded arm across the windshield to clear off whatever was on it. As an added bonus, when the rainy/wintry season was over, the driver could remove this item and store it away until needed again.  It was on this date in 1903, that Mary Anderson received a patent for this invention. Interestingly enough, people did not like it.  They criticized it, claiming it would cause accidents.  Unfortunately, no one took a genuine interest in this product, and her patent ran out.  It was in 1917, that Charlotte Bridgewood patented the “Electric  Storm Windshield Cleaner.”   This used rollers instead of blades.

For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anderson_(inventor)

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blanderson.htm

http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/mary-anderson-inventor/

http://famousdaily.com/history/windshield-wiper-patented-mary-anderson.html

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mary-anderson-patents-windshield-wiper