Mary Elizabeth Anderson (February 19, 1866 – June 27, 1953) was an American real estate developer, rancher, and inventor. Mary Anderson invented the first practical windshield wiper. On November 10, 1903 Anderson was granted her first patent for an automatic car window cleaning device controlled from inside the car, called the windshield wiper.
The device could be easily removed if after the winter was over. Similar devices had been made earlier, but Anderson’s was the first windshield clearing device to be effective.
In 1917, Charlotte Bridgewood patented the “electric storm windshield cleaner,” the first automatic wiper system that used rollers instead of blades. Like Anderson, Bridgewood never made any money from her invention.
Thanks to Wikipedia for this information.