6 Incredible Inventions The World Can Thank Cleveland For

Garrett Morgan is arguably one of the most influential Clevelanders of all time. This incredible and groundbreaking thinker created the precursor to the modern traffic light (which he naturally knew the importance of, as he was the first Black Clevelander to own a car) as well as a hair relaxant, and he invested heavily in education despite only having a sixth-grade education himself.

While some of his innovations impacted life in small but positive ways, one invention, in particular, has saved thousands of lives. The smoke hood — a device that allowed firefighters to filter air — was cheaper than the era's oxygen masks, and it was surprisingly effective. The device featured a sponge filter and an air tube that stretched down to the floor, and it was used by fire departments and ammonia factory workers around the nation. It gained particular fame on July 24, 1916, when an explosion in a tunnel under Lake Erie trapped dozens of workers. Morgan arrived with his smoke hood and rushed to help. He personally saved nine people that day, making him a hero in addition to a talented inventor.

Recognize these? This is what the Eveready Alkaline Energizer AA battery looked like in 1968. At the time, the alkaline battery wasn't new... but just one decade earlier, it became a modern staple. Alkaline batteries were invented in 1899, but the chemistry of modern alkaline batteries was born in 1957. At that time, Lewis Urry, Paul Marsal, and Karl Kordesch were working at Eveready's Cleveland factory when they invented an incredibly long-lasting alkaline battery. Their patent was granted in 1960, though it wasn't aggressively marketed... at first. The Eveready Alkaline Battery underwent a few rebrands, changing its name a few times until it landed on one you may know: Energizer.

Cardiac care has come a long way over the years, and part of that is due to innovations by the Cleveland Clinic. One of their most impressive moments came in 1956, when doctors Donald Effler and Lawrence Groves performed the first-ever stopped-heart operation. Using a heart-lung machine, which was developed by the Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Willem Kolff, the doctors and their team stopped a patient's heart for 17 minutes to do the operation. At the time, it was risky... nothing like this had ever been done. This groundbreaking moment in time ushered the Cleveland Clinic to the forefront of cardiac care. To this day, heart surgery on the heart-lung machine is a common procedure at the Cleveland Clinic.

Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, several patents were filed for a windshield wiping apparatus. Inventors across the world sought out a solution to rainy windshields, but many early innovations were rather ineffective. Some would be operated via a lever inside the vehicle. In 1917, Tri-Continental Corporation (Trico) founded the first two-wiper system, as each innovation on this sought-after design slowly got better.

Finally, a breakthrough came in 1921. Cleveland inventor William M. Folberth partnered with his brother Fred to make a fully automated windshield wiper. This vacuum-powered windshield wiper was groundbreaking, and it was something Tri-Continental Corporation wanted. They filed a patent dispute against Folberth, but it was eventually settled when Trico purchased the Folberth Auto Specialty Co. With this, they obtained the rights to the vacuum-powered windshield wiper, and it went on to take over the market. In fact, it was the standard form of windshield wipers on cars until about 1960! It's amazing that so many Clevelanders, from the Folberth brothers to Alexander Winton, transformed the modern car industry.