If you’ve ever floated down water rapids or been rescued from the water, you might have had the wonderful experience of floating above the water in a life raft. Rather than being absolutely soaked, you can thank our good friend Maria E. Beasley.

A Look Back In Time

Maria was born into an inventive family that led her to fifteen patented inventions within two decades, along with founding two companies that reached over a million dollars in her lifetime.

While she was a natural inventor, she is most known for her two patents that improved upon the design of the life raft. Her first patent approval was in 1880 with her second design improving upon the original design in 1882 with patent number US258191A. Some even argue her design contributed to rescuing people on the Titanic in 1912!

Maria’s inventions focused greatly on saving lives, and made transportation across lands and sea much safer. She also created an expert design for a footwarmer, several patents for barrel making, and an anti-derailment device for railroads.

Inventor’s Impact

With the engineering knowledge available, Maria became an intuitive inventor that created machines and safety devices that are still used today. So next time you hit the summer waves, you can think of Maria and her life-saving inventions.