Mary Anderson

Mary Anderson (1866–1953[1]) was a real estate developer, rancher, viticulturist and inventor of the windshield wiper blade. In November 1903 Anderson was granted her first patent[2] for an automatic car window cleaning device controlled inside the car, called the windshield wiper.[3]

In a visit to New York City in the winter of 1902, while sitting in a trolley car on a frosty day, she observed that the motorman drove with the front window open because of difficulty keeping the windshield clear of falling sleet. When she returned to Birmingham she sketched a design for a hand-operated device to keep a windshield clear[1] and had a local company produce a working model. She applied for, and in 1903 was granted, a 17-year patent for a windshield wiper.[1] Her device consisted of a lever and a swinging arm with a rubber blade. The lever could be operated from inside a vehicle to cause the spring-loaded arm to move back and forth across the windshield. Similar devices had been made earlier, but Anderson's was the first to be effective.[4]
even though Mary Anderson is credited with designing the first wind shield wiper, she barely received any money or royalties from the invention.