Why did Cochrane want a dishwasher?

Her fine china was being chipped

How were dishes held?

In wire compartments sized for each piece

What moved inside the machine?

A wheel turning while hot soapy water sprayed

Josephine Cochrane Quiz: The Woman Who Built a Dishwasher

This josephine cochrane quiz loads a wire rack with fine china. Play 10 interactive questions on the Illinois socialite tired of servants chipping her dishes, wire compartments sized for plates and cups, a wheel turning in hot soapy water, her 1886 patent, hotels and restaurants as first buyers, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the company that later became KitchenAid.

Start Josephine Cochrane Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Why
Why did Cochrane want a dishwasher?
State
Which US state was Cochrane from?
Patent
When did Cochrane patent her dishwasher?
Rack
How were dishes held?
Wheel
What moved inside the machine?
Buyers
Who bought her machines first?
Fair
Where did she show her dishwasher in 1893?
Company
Which brand did her company eventually become part of?
Water
What did her machine use to clean?
Honor
Which honor did Cochrane later receive?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Why did Cochrane want a dishwasher?
Answer: Her fine china was being chipped
She also disliked washing.
Q2: Which US state was Cochrane from?
Answer: Illinois
Shelbyville.
Q3: When did Cochrane patent her dishwasher?
Answer: 1886
A pioneering design.
Q4: How were dishes held?
Answer: In wire compartments sized for each piece
Secure placement.
Q5: What moved inside the machine?
Answer: A wheel turning while hot soapy water sprayed
Pressure cleaning.
Q6: Who bought her machines first?
Answer: Hotels and restaurants
Large dish loads.
Q7: Where did she show her dishwasher in 1893?
Answer: World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
It won attention.
Q8: Which brand did her company eventually become part of?
Answer: KitchenAid
Through later mergers.
Q9: What did her machine use to clean?
Answer: Water pressure
Instead of scrubbing.
Q10: Which honor did Cochrane later receive?
Answer: National Inventors Hall of Fame
In 2006.

Saving Fine China From Chips

Josephine Cochrane, a socialite from Shelbyville, Illinois, was annoyed that servants chipped her fine china while washing it. Determined to find a better way, she designed a dishwasher herself and patented it in 1886.

Her machine held dishes in wire compartments sized for plates, cups and saucers. A wheel turned inside a tub while hot soapy water sprayed over the dishes, using water pressure instead of scrubbing. Hotels and restaurants with large dish loads were her first buyers.

She showed her machine at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, gaining wide attention. Her company eventually became part of KitchenAid through later mergers, and she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.

What This Quiz Teaches

Tech history fans will enjoy these questions.

Why she invented it
How it worked
When she patented it
Who bought it
How she is honored

Did You Know?

Home dishwashers spread much later.
She ran the business herself.
Her great-grandfather was an inventor.
Early models were hand-cranked or motorized.
Many homes lacked enough hot water then.