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Thursday
In 1824, a washing machine was patented by Noah Cushing of Quebec. This was the first Canadian patent ever issued. In 1869, Ives W. McGaffney of Chicago obtained the first American patent for a "sweeping machine" (U.S. No. 91,145). This first suction-type vacuum cleaner was a light hand-powered device for surface cleaning. The mechanism consists of a handle to turn a pulley which uses a belt to drive a fan in a casing, thus producing a strong current of air, "controlled to take up dust and dirt, and carry the fine particles into a porous air-chamber, so constructed as to allow the air to escape while the dust is retained." The air-chamber could be "a bag made of fine and firm cotton, with an elastic band or cord fixed in a hem around its mouth, which is drawn closely over the discharge-opening of the fan." Its top end is suspended on a cross-bar on the handle.