"A woman can't do something that complicated!"

[honeychile]

I found this in an ad for Solutions catalog and thought that it would intrigue other women as well.


"Imagine being told “a woman can’t do something that complicated!”

Known as the “Female Edison,” Margaret Knight, born in 1839 on Valentine’s Day, was our kind of woman—she saw a problem and solved it! Despite living when women didn’t have the same advantages as men, this remarkable woman used the tools she inherited from her father and started inventing at age 12. Among the more than two dozen patents she held was the 1871 patent for a machine that made flat-bottom paper bags like the ones still used in grocery stores today. When a man tried to steal her design and patent it himself, he actually argued that a woman couldn’t have invented a machine that complicated. Margaret proved him wrong! [my bold]

Most of Margaret’s many inventions (said to number more than 80) were practical problem-solvers for things in her everyday life. Her first creation was a safety device she invented after seeing a textile worker injured in the mill where her family worked. Other inventions included toys for her brothers, a foot warmer for her mother, an automatic boring tool, a numbering machine, and a window frame and sash."


Now, if we could only discover a greek connection!

[FSUZeta]

how interesting!! i love learning things like this.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

I learned about her in my Women & Technology Class! She's pretty cool.

[Scandia]

What an awesome story. I especially like the part about her proving him wrong. Hehehehehe.