Dishwashers are so popular nowadays, for it's such an amazing invention that can extremely save you time in cleaning your dishes leaving you with more time to spend on other important matters in life.

The birth of this popular home appliance dates way back in 1850, when an American inventor named Joel Houghton obtained a patent on a hardly workable wooden machine that had a hand-turned wheel that splashes water on dishes. That was just the machine's humble beginning that spiraled many advancements soon after.

Taking this invention to the next level was L.A. Alexander who, in 1865, patented a device that utilizes a hand crank and gearing to spin a rack of dishes through a dishwater. However, it still did poorly in cleaning dirty dishes.

It was not until 1886 that a first-ever hand-operated practical dishwasher was built. Amazingly, it was a woman who finally did it. Her name was Josephine Cochrane, a wealthy grand-daughter of John Fitch who invented the steam boat. She made known her invention in 1893 during the World Fair in Chicago where she took the fair's highest recognition. The company she started that manufactured her dishwashers eventually became known as KitchenAid. Other companies also popped up making their own versions of dishwashers, such as using a conveyor belt or spinning basket that passes the dirty dishes under jets of hot water.

It was in 1920 when dishwasher models where installed with permanent plumbing, yet it was just restaurants, hotels, and wealthy families who were able to take advantage of it due to it's bulky setup and expensive cost. It was not until 1937 that a smaller version fit for a household was made by William Howard Livens. It was in 1950s that the dishwasher caught on with the general public for it became cheaper and smaller. It then became common to every household in the U.S. by 1970s.

Today, dishwashers are made available in different shapes, sizes, and functionalities to every households by a number of manufacturers. Among the most notable dishwasher brands in the market today are Fisher and Paykel, KitchenAid, Whirlpool, GE, Bosch, and Kenmore Elite.



Source by Steve Mathews