Anna Connelly: The Fire Escape
A fire breaks out in a building and you have to rush to the fire escape. Just to think that once upon a time there was no such thing. Thanks to the inventor of the fire escape, escaping burning buildings is now much easier.
In 1887 Anna Connelly invented the very first external metal staircase that saved lives during tenement fires. Her invention also prompted one of the first New York City building codes, requiring residential buildings to have a secondary means of escape for emergencies.