British inventor Herbert Cecil Booth (1871-1955) is credited with inventing the first vacuum cleaner, which he demonstrated to a royal audience at Buckingham Palace in 1901.

Despite the advances in technology made during the Industrial Revolution, everyday life during the nineteenth century still held its discomforts. Despite the increase in cheap, machine-made goods that allowed even the middle classes to own carved and upholstered furniture, fringed brocade draperies, and attractively-patterned woven rugs, the methods for keeping it all clean--wiping dust from furniture; shaking dust and lint from textiles; sweeping floors, stairs, and wall surfaces; and dragging heavy rugs outside to beat the dirt out of them--proved to only move dirt and dust from one surface to another. The non-stop effort required to keep up the appearance of a clean home proved daunting to many housewives, who spent hours on hands and knees scrubbing dirt-covered floors or brushing rugs. For...