On this day in history, November 10, 1903, Mary Anderson of Alabama was awarded U.S. Patent No. 743,801 for her “window cleaning device for electric cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or sleet from the window.”

Yesterday: First Unmanned Saturn V Test Flight

While visiting New York City in the winter of 1902, Anderson was caught in a sudden downpour while riding in a streetcar. She noticed that her driver was having difficulty seeing out the front window, and had to resort to rolling down the window to stick his head out.

Upon returning to Alabama, she began conducting experiments to create a device that would keep front windshields clear of rain and sleet. She finally imagined a device that used rubber squeegees to remove water from the windshields.

After much trial and error, Anderson finally produced a hand lever device, operated by the driver or passenger, that used rubber wiper blades to remove rain from vehicle windshields. The lever was designed to cause a spring-loaded arm to move back and forth across the windshield. She had a model of her design manufactured and then patented on November 10, 1903.

In 1905, she wrote to a Canadian firm about purchasing the patent, but the company declared that they saw no commercial value in the product. This was reportedly Anderson’s only attempt to market her invention.