4 women-led innovations that were long credited to men
The world has always been a male-dominated place. In fact, it was ten times harder for women to receive accolades for their achievements in previous centuries than it is today. History has often been the witness to many such accomplished women who had revolutionised the world around them through cutting-edge inventions, discoveries and breakthroughs. However, they often missed out on the recognitions and in many cases were unfairly deprived of them, thanks to sexism and gender bias. That is why their contributions went totally unacknowledged, or worse, were credited to men. But as it turns out, we can still thank these women pioneers and offer them their true and deserved credits. Here’s a list of such unsung women innovators.
Lise Meitner for Nuclear Fission
Nuclear fission is a unique process in which a large nucleus splits into smaller ones with the simultaneous release of energy. This nuclear reaction has so long been accredited to Otto Hahn, who even won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1944. However, it was the Austrian-Swedish physicist Lise Meitner, his laboratory partner and co-scientist who had discovered the true power of uranium that eventually led to the split of atomic nuclei during their future reactions. In fact, Meitner was also responsible for the discovery of the radioactive element called protactinium in 1917.
Margaret E. Knight for Square bottomed paper bag
In the year 1868, an American woman innovator named Margaret Knight invented a unique machine that was able to produce folded and flat, square bottomed paper bags. In fact, Knight can be regarded as the pioneer of sustainable paper bags. However, a man named Charles Annan who worked alongside Knight in her workshop, deceiver her, stole the idea and even patented it. But fortunately, Knight had filed a lawsuit and won back the rights to her invention in 1871. In fact, Knight is today regarded as the most famous 19th century woman inventor.
Katherine Johnson for Moon landing path
Katherine Johnson, an American mathematician is well known today for her discovery of the moon landing path for the 1961 spacecraft Freedom 7. However, during her lifetime, she had missed out on this recognition, thanks to her male colleagues who stole the limelight. Not only that, her calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA scientist have been critical to the success of all subsequent crewed spaceflights of the US. Today, the world knows more about Johnson, thanks to the 2017 film ‘Hidden Figures’ in which she was nicknamed as a ‘Human Computer’ for her incredible intelligence.
Caresse Crosby for Modern day bra
Primarily a writer, patron of arts and publisher, this American innovator was responsible for the design and development of the modern-day bra, also known as ‘backless brassiere’ as she was tired of wearing corsets. In fact, she was the first recipient of a patent for her invention. However, when she later sold her patent to Warner Brothers Corset Company for her product to reach women worldwide, she was unfairly left back in the shadows.