The Inventors

We're trying to put together a comprehensive "who invented it" section.
Keep checking back and hopefully when time permits, it will be updated. Another work in progress.

Pumps
Pumping devices have been an important way of moving fluids for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians invented water wheels with buckets mounted on them to move water for irrigation. In the 200's B.C. Ctesibius, a Greek inventor, made a reciprocating pump for pumping water. At about the same time, Archimedes, a Greek mathematician, invented a screw pump made of a screw rotating in a cylinder (now known as an Archimedes screw). This type of pump was used to drain and irrigate the Nile Valley. Force pumps, utilizing a piston-and-cylinder combination, were used in Greece to raise water from wells. Similar air pumps operated spectacular devices in Greek temples and theaters, such as the water organ. Times may have changed but pumps still operate in the same basic way.
True centrifugal pumps were not developed until the late 1600's, when Denis Papin, a French born inventor, made one with straight vanes. The curved vane was introduce by British inventor John G. Appold in 1851. Centrifugal pumps are inexpensive and can handle large amounts of fluid.

The toilet.
Was there really a Thomas Crapper?
Apparently there really was. It's repported Thomas Crapper holds nine patents: Four for improvements to drains, three for water closets, one for manhole covers and the last for pipe joints. Thomas Crapper's death was January 27, 1910. He operated two Crapper plumbing shops in his lifetime, but left the business three years before the final and most famous facility on Kings Road in London the company under the Crapper closed in 1966

Toilet paper
Since humans are the only animals that have the dexterity to actually wipe themselves after each defecation, it is currently believed that the original material used for cleaning (to put it politely) was leaves and sticks.
The first actual paper produced for wiping was in England in 1880. They were individual squares sold in boxes, not rolls. This paper was very coarse - the type the British prefer today. Americans like the soft, fluffy type, which was introduced in 1907.

Water heater
In the 1870s, Englishmen, Maughan invented the first instant water heater. Little is known about Maughan's invention, however, his invention influenced the designs of Edwin Ruud. Edwin Ruud, a Norwegian mechanical engineer was the inventor of the automatic storage water heater in 1889. Ruud emigrated to Pittsburgh where he pioneered the early development of both residential and commercial water heaters.

In-Sink-Erator’s Disposer
Wisconsin architect John Hammes invented the food waste disposer in 1927. In his original model, the disposer ground up the food waste so it could be flushed down the kitchen drain. Hammes tinkered with his original model for 10 years before he launched the In-Sink-Erator Mfg. Co. and its line of disposers.

Washing machine
The earliest washing "machine" was the scrub board invented in 1797. American, James King patented the first washing machine to use a drum in 1851, the drum made King's machine resemble a modern machine, however it was still hand powered. In 1858, Hamilton Smith patented the rotary washing machine. In 1874, William Blackstone of Indiana built a birthday present for his wife. It was a machine which removed and washed away dirt from clothes. The first washing machines designed for use in the home. The first electric-powered washing machine (the Thor) was introduced in 1908, by the Hurley Machine Company of Chicago, Illinois. Alva J. Fisher was the inventor. The machine was a drum type with a galvanized tub and an electric motor, for which a patent was issued on Aug. 9, 1910

Drinking Fountains and Water Coolers
The modern drinking fountain was invented and then manufactured in the early 1900s by two men and the respective company each man founded; inventor, Halsey Willard Taylor and the Halsey Taylor Company and inventor, Luther Haws and the Haws Sanitary Drinking Faucet Co. These two companies changed how water was served in public places

Water boiler
A boiler is a device for heating water and generating steam above atmospheric pressure. The boiler consists of a compartment where the fuel is burned and a compartment where water can be evaporated into steam. The water-tube boiler was patented in 1867 by American inventors George Herman Babcock and Stephen Wilcox.

Dish washer
In 1850, Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes, it was hardly a workable machine, but it was the first patent. In 1886, Josephine Cochran proclaims in disgust "If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I'll do it myself." And she did, Josephine Cochran invented the first practical dishwasher. It was not until the 1950s, that dishwashers caught on with the general public. Josephine Cochran's machine was a hand-operated mechanical dishwasher. She founded a company to manufacture these dish washers, which eventually became KitchenAid.

Drinking straws
In 1888, Marvin Stone patented the spiral winding process to manufacture the first paper drinking straws. Stone was already a manufacturer of paper cigarette holders. His idea was to make paper drinking straws. Before his straws, beverage drinkers were using the natural rye grass straws.

Jacuzzi
In 1968, Roy Jacuzzi invented and marketed the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath by incorporating jets into the sides of the tub. Jacuzzi ® is the trademarked name for the invention. The Jacuzzi trademark is shown in both the Oxford and Webster's dictionaries, recognizing Jacuzzi as the inventor of the whirlpool bath.

Swimming pool
Swimming as an organized activity goes back as far as 2500 B.C. in ancient Egypt and later in ancient Greece, Rome, and Assyria. In Rome and Greece, swimming was part of the education of elementary age boys and the Romans built the first pools (separate from bathing pools). The first heated swimming pool was built by Gaius Maecenas of Rome in the first century BC. Gaius Maecenas was a rich Roman lord and considered one of the first patron of arts - he supported the famous poets Horace, Virgil, and Propertius, making it possible for them to live and write without fear of poverty. However, swimming pools did not became popular until the middle of the 19th century. By 1837, six indoor pools with diving boards were built in London, England. After the modern Olympic Games began in 1896 and swimming races were among the original events, the popularity of swimming pools began to spread.

Umbrella
The basic umbrella was invented over four thousand years ago. We have seen evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China. These ancient umbrellas or parasols, were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to waterproof their umbrellas for use as rain protection. They waxed and lacquered their paper parasols in order to use them for rain. The first all umbrella shop was called "James Smith and Sons". The shop opened in 1830, and is still located at 53 New Oxford St., in London, England. In 1852, Samuel Fox invented the steel ribbed umbrella design. Fox also founded the "English Steels Company" After that, compact collapsible umbrellas were the next major technical innovation in umbrella manufacture, over a century later.

Water skiing
Water skiing came about on June 28, 1922 when Ralph Samuelson, an eighteen-year-old from Minnesota, proposed the idea that if you could ski on snow, then you could ski on water. Ralph Samuelson first attempted water skiing on Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota, towed by his brother Ben. The brothers experimented for several days until July 2, 1922 when Ralph discovered that leaning backwards with ski tips up lead to successful water skiing. As for proper water skiing equipment, for his first skis Ralph Samuelson tried barrel staves, then snow skis, and finally Ralph fashioned the first dedicated water skis from lumber he purchased and shaped. Samuelson made his bindings from leather strips and used a long window sash as a ski rope. Also in the year 1925, Fred Waller patented the first water skis, called Dolphin Akwa-Skees. Ralph Samuelson never patented his invention. In 1940, Jack Andresen invented the first trick ski, a shorter, finless water ski.