Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903 after noticing during a snowy trip to New York City that streetcar drivers had to constantly stick their heads out of the window to see where they were going.

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Mary Anderson invented the windshield wiper in 1903 after noticing during a snowy trip to New York City that streetcar drivers had to constantly stick their heads out of the window to see where they were going. She patented a simple, rubber-bladed mechanism operated by a lever inside the vehicle, solving a massive safety hazard for the burgeoning automotive industry. Hilariously, automobile manufacturers initially rejected her brilliant invention, arguing that the moving wiper blade would clearly distract drivers and cause more accidents than literally driving blind in a blizzard. Her patent expired before she ever made a dime, and car companies immediately stole the idea and made it standard equipment, proving that corporate theft and spectacular short-sightedness have been the foundational pillars of the automotive industry since its very inception