Vacuum Cleaner 1901 by Hubert Cecil Booth

Suggested by Slavatore R., K. Howl, and Ben H., who write: "My invention is on the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum is important because it makes it easier for people to clean. People have to clean for their children and their family. Vacuum cleaners do not always work the best, but if you could make them better you could help make the world a cleaner place. That is why I am asking you to place this on your web site, so that people will know that things could always be better." Before the vacuum cleaner came along in 1901, people all over the world were chasing dirt from one corner of their house to the next, never able to really capture it all with a broom or a mop. Hubert Cecil Booth was born in Gloucester, England. At the age of 18 he had moved to London to study civil and mechanical engineering at the City and Guilds College. While working as an engineer, he witnessed a demonstration of a new cleaning machine by an American inventor. The machine had a bunch of high-pressure jets that blew dust and dirt into a collecting box. Booth asked the inventor why he did not use suction instead of blowing. The inventor got angry and left, but Booth could not let go of his idea. A few days later, Booth decided to test his idea by placing a handkerchief over a cushioned chair and sucking on it hard. He of course started choking at the dust that he sucked in, but when he turned over the hanky, it was filthy from the dust that had been trapped in it. His machine worked using a large suction pump, connected to a hose that was attached to a hollow container where the dirt was collected. It took years for Booth to develop a refined machine that could be used by the public (his initial design included a suction pump that was so large, it had to be drawn around in a horse-drawn carriage!). On of his first successful uses of the vacuum in public was to clean a blue carpet in the aisle of Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The Royals were so impressed that they had a vast vacuum-cleaning unit installed in the palace. Today, the vacuum cleaner can be found in almost every household in North America.