Inventing America
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S4E5 #030 - The Mechanical Dishwasher
Inventing America – Season 4, Episode 5 Josephine Cochrane – The Mechanical Dishwasher Episode Summary Progress often begins with a broken plate. In the Gilded Age, where servants handled…
S4E4 #029 - The Self-Propelled Harvester
Inventing America – Season 4, Episode 4 Hobart I. Nutter – The Self-Propelled Harvester Episode Summary: Before tractors ruled the fields and machines moved on their own, one Ohio farmer imagined…
S4E3 #028 - The Typist’s Undo Button
Title: Bette Nesmith Graham – The Typist’s Undo ButtonEpisode: Season 4, Episode 3Summary:Before the delete key or “Ctrl+Z,” there was a bottle of white fluid and a secretary who refused to let…
S4E2 #027 - The Eye Beneath the Waves
Title: Sarah Mather – The Eye Beneath the Waves Episode: Season 4, Episode 2 Summary: In 1845, Sarah Mather received a U.S. patent for a device that allowed sailors to see beneath the surface of the…
S4E1 #026 - Earl Tupper
Before it became a household name, Tupperware was an experiment in chemistry—and culture. Earl Tupper, a meticulous New England inventor with a farmer’s grit and a chemist’s obsession, purified…
S3E10 #025 - The Machine That Spit Money
Episode Title: The Machine That Spit Money Topic: Donald Wetzel – Designer of the modern ATM interface Summary: Donald Wetzel helped invent the first American ATM interface, bringing banking into…
S3E9 #024 - The Fever and the Freeze
Episode Title: The Fever and the Freeze Topic: John Gorrie – Inventor of the mechanical ice machine and early air conditioning Summary: John Gorrie, a 19th-century Florida physician, invented the…
S3E8 #023 - The Sculptor of Extinction
Episode Title: The Sculptor of Extinction Topic: Carl Akeley – Inventor of modern taxidermy and museum habitat dioramas Summary: Carl Akeley revolutionized museum exhibits by inventing lifelike…
S5E7 #022 - The Typewriter’s Trigger
Philo Remington didn’t invent the typewriter—but he turned it into a revolution. By applying industrial scale and visionary marketing to an awkward prototype, he helped launch the modern office and…
S3E6 #021 - The Wringer
Episode Title: The Wringer Topic: Ellen Eglin – Inventor of the clothes-wringer Summary: Ellen Eglin, a Black laundress in 19th-century Washington, D.C., invented the clothes-wringer—a device that…
S3E5 #020 - The Glass That Lasted
Episode 5 – "The Glass That Lasted"In 1858, a tinsmith named John Landis Mason patented a humble glass jar with a screw-top lid—a design so perfect it would outlive him by centuries. The Mason jar…
S3E4 #019 - The Whaler on Shore
Lewis Temple, a 19th-century Blacksmith in New Bedford, Massachusetts, invented the toggle harpoon that revolutionized American whaling. Though he never patented it, his design became the industry…
S3E3 #018 - The Scale Maker
Summary: In 1830, Thaddeus Fairbanks invented the platform scale, revolutionizing how goods were weighed in industries from shipping to agriculture. This episode explores how his design brought…
S3E2 #017 - The Hatmaker’s Patent
In 1809, Mary Dixon Kies became the first woman in the United States to be granted a patent. Her invention—a method for weaving straw with silk—boosted America’s hatmaking industry at a critical…
S3E1 #016 - The Man Who Automated the Mill
Long before the Industrial Revolution swept across America, Oliver Evans designed and built the first automated factory. This episode explores how one Delaware inventor reimagined labor, created…
S2E10 #015 - The Thread That Caught the Bullet
Stephanie Kwolek’s accidental discovery of Kevlar changed protective technology forever. This episode traces her quiet path from a lab experiment to a life-saving innovation, and how her work became…
S2E9 #014 - The Pilot Who Taught Us to Breathe
Forrest Bird’s inventions in respiratory technology transformed emergency medicine and neonatal care. A pilot-turned-inventor, he built devices that continue to save lives every day. This episode…
S2E8 #013 - The Man Who Held Everything Together
Richard Drew invented both masking tape and transparent adhesive tape—two everyday items that revolutionized painting, packaging, and repair. This episode explores how a quiet 3M engineer stuck with…
S2E7 #012 - The Roll That Changed the Wall
Norman Breakey’s paint roller changed how we decorate our homes, yet he made almost nothing from it. This episode explores how one overlooked invention revolutionized work, design, and everyday…
S2E6 #011 - A Mind in Orbit
Mary Golda Ross broke barriers as a Cherokee woman in top-secret aerospace engineering. Her work on spaceflight trajectories and missile systems was hidden for decades. This episode highlights her…
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Inventing America has published 30 episodes since May 2025, covering topics in Documentary, Society & Culture.
Inventing America is currently dormant with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 3m.
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