The dishwasher: an invention that we all use—or at least have access to—in the 21st century. As we celebrate Women’s History Month and recognize women who have made significant achievements, I want to shine a spotlight on the one and only Josephine Cochrane.

Like many women in the 19th century, this Native Ohioan found washing dishes daunting. You had to remove all the food, grime, and who knows what else from the plates before scrubbing with soap to eliminate any stains. Then, you had to rinse the dishes, sometimes repeating the process, and finally dry them. What an ordeal! This was the struggle that Cochrane set out to solve.

Her original design was simple yet innovative. It featured a set of wire compartments designed to hold plates, cups, and even silverware, all placed inside a wheel that lay flat. This setup was housed within a copper boiler. As a motor turned the wheel, hot, soapy water would clean and disinfect the dishes. The only issue was that most American households didn’t have access to hot water at the time, in the 1890s. As a result, it wasn’t until the 1950s that her invention became widely accessible to households across America.