Discoveries by Women That People Still Credit Men For”.
Monopoly: The invention of everyone’s favorite board game has been credited to Charles Darrow, who solid it to Parker Brothers in 1935. But it was Elizabeth Magie Phillips who came up with the original inspiration, The Landlord Game, in 1903. Ironically, she designed the game to protest against monopolists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. She created two sets of rules for her game: an anti-monopolist set in which all were rewarded when wealth was created, and a monopolist set in which the goal was to create monopolies and crush opponents. While Darrow made millions and struck an agreement that ensured he would receive royalties, Magie’s income for her creation was reported to be a mere $500.
Computer Programming Language: Dr. Grace Murray Hopper created the first computer programming language complier tools to program the Harvard/IBM Mark I computer that was often used for WWII efforts. Though it’s noted in history that John von Neumann initiated the computer’s first program, Hopper is the one who invented the codes to program it. One of the programming languages she pioneered, COBOL, is still widely used today.
Pulsars: Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered irregular radio pulses while working as a research assistant at Cambridge University. After showing the discovery of the pluses to her advisor, the team worked together to uncover what they truly were Neuron stars, AKA pulsars. Seven years later, Burnell’s advisor Antony Hewish and his collaborator Martin Ryle received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 for the discovery, while Burnell herself received zero credit. However, just months ago in December of 2018, nearly 50 years after her work as a graduate student, Burnell was recognized and awarded the $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for her discovery of pulsars.
Many thanks to these women, and the countless others over time, for all the work they’ve done and never received credit for!