11 Effing Cool Inventions We Can Thank Women For

Happy Ada Lovelace day!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - 13:46

Today's Ada Lovelace day, a happy reminder that female scientists pioneered many of the world's most important creations and discoveries. Can you spell 'computer algorithm'? Lovelace invented them. And a bunch of other cool shit.

.@SciencePorn Haha, it's funny because women did all the calculations that actually got men to the moon

— Near deGrasse Tyson (@DrNeilTyson) August 24, 2016

Ladies make up just 24% of STEM workers in the US, and only 12.8% in the UK - and they're two countries that claim to *lead* the charge in rebalancing gender equality. In the face of this (and old dudes trying to grab them by their pussies without permission), women do fucking awesome stuff every day.

Here's 11 amazing things we wouldn't have without them.

Amazing Inventions And Discoveries By Female Scientists

We have a hard time spelling algorithm. Ada Lovelace fucking invented them. She worked tirelessly at the University of London to create what was probably the first computer programme. Check out other amazing stuff we have women to thank for...

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Rosalind Elsie Franklin made critical contributions to the understanding of DNA. The sheer impact of her research was only discovered AFTER her death - because two male chemists awarded a Nobel Prize for the work buried her findings in the footnotes. FFS.

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Florence Papart was our kind of housewife. Walking along the street, her dress was splashed by some idiot driving a bad street cleaning machine. So she went and invented a new one. By 1914 she'd helped invent the fridge. PEOPLE USED TO USE BUCKETS OF ICE!

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Unless YOU'RE the flatmate that secretly turns the heating off at every opportunity (stop that shit right now), you'll be eternally grateful for the birth of Alice Parker, who first brought about the idea of gas-powered central heating.

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You can thank Josephine Cochrane for your dishwasher. A socialite from the 1800's who loved to entertain, but couldn't bear how much of her posh china got broken by servants - so she invented a machine instead.

Funnydogsite.com

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Remember that Nestlé Toll House Friends ep? Ruth Wakefield bought an old toll house to feed weary travellers. When she ran out of chocolate, she crumbled a Nestlé bar into some batter. Nestlé then bought the recipe for a LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CHOCOLATE!

Techeblog.com

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Ah, beer. The pinnacle of manliness. Or not, 'cos kick ass women invented it. Author Jane Peyton's (another woman - go figure) extensive research on the topic of beer production through the ages shows that Mesopotamian women created dat sweet nectar.

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Five times stronger than steel, protects our soldiers in battle, can stop a BULLET in its tracks - sounds like a pretty 'manly' invention, this life-saving Kevlar stuff. Funny then, that DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek made it.

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Admiral Grace Mary Hopper worked on the first large-scale computer in the US - it weighed FIVE TONS. Hopper was the third person to program it, wrote the manual of operations and coined the term 'debugging' - when actual moths fell in the machine!

Thefix.com

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Unsure how to deal with the real world of mortages, rent, tax and property? Don't worry, they had the same problem in the 1800's - but clever young woman Elizabeth Magie decided to explain political economy in this workable, fun game format.

Worldofmonopoly.com

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Not an invention as such, but shall we just remind ourselves that women GROW. HUMAN. BEINGS. INSIDE. THEM?! Have a think about that for a minute. They grow them, carry them about, push them out of a TINY HOLE and keep them alive forever. WT ACTUAL F THO.

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Related: The 13 Types Of Female Characters On TV And Film

The 13 Types Of Female Characters In Film And TV

The Angry Black Woman - Example: Cookie in Empire. Because we all know every single black female on this planet is a sassy diva, right? RIGHT?

HBO

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The Mighty Warrior - Example: Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. She’s strong, she’s independent, but she’s also a little bit of a bitch. Her biggest weakness is men. Of course everything has to revolve around men…

Lionsgate

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The Cat Lady - Example: Gayle in Bob’s Burgers. She’s been single for years because she’s (cat) crazy. Either that or she’s a lesbian. There’s no other explanation.

Fox/Comedy Central

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The Bad Witch - Example: Maleficent. She’s pure evil because of her traumatic past that more often than not involves a man. There’s nothing we can do to save her now.

Disney

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The Smart One - Example: Hermione Granger in Harry Potter. She’s intelligent and saves everyone’s ass all the time, but do they thank her? NO! Instead, she’s keep being objectified and told that she won’t find a man if continues to be so stubborn.

Warner Bros.

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The Damsel in Distress - Example: Sleeping Beauty. A beautiful, noble lady who is literally incapable of doing anything in life.

Disney

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The Gorgeous Geek - Example: Mia in The Princess Diaries. She takes off her glasses and all of a sudden people realise she’s been beautiful all along. It’s like Hannah Montana, but for visually impaired men.

Disney

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The Femme Fatal - Example: Jane Smith in Mr and Ms Smith. A cut-throat bitch who lusts after a man and nothing will stop her until she gets him because the society failed her and now she thinks that’s what her purpose in life is - to “hunt” for a man.

20th Century Fox

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The Girl Next Door - Example: Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls. A super chill and down to earth girl, much like Jennifer Lawrence. Everything she does is Relatable (TM).

The CW

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The Tragic Lady Homo - Example: Alex in The O.C. She finds out she’s gay, she gets with the girl she likes, she dies. Alternatively, the girl of her dreams dumps her for a dude. Yay, heteronormativity!

Fox

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The Tomboy - Example: Mulan. She’s not like other girls, obvs. More often than not, she’s into some sort of sport or physical activity. How unladylike…

Disney

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The Popular Girl - Example: Regina George in Mean Girls. Everyone knows her, everyone fears her. She needs to be mean. That’s just the way it has to be, right?

Warner Bros.

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And of course, The Drama Queen - Example: Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl. Things just have to be her way, full stop! She’s also the one men call crazy after a break up.

The CW

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