Google on Wednesday celebrated the 147th birth anniversary of British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth, the inventor of the first vacuum cleaners, by dedicating a doodle to him. He is also credited with designing Ferris wheels, suspension bridges and factories. He went on to become the Chairman and MD of the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Company.

In the year 1901, the best technology in floor cleaning services involved blowing air and pushing away dirt. Booth thought about a different approach: that of collecting dirt by suction. It was after he saw a demonstration of the “pneumatic carpet renovator” cleaning railway cars that he decided to conduct an experiment. He put his handkerchief on a chair and he put his mouth to it, sucking air through his end. When he saw favourable results, he began working on his first invention, which he called “Puffing Billy”. Its engine was so big that it had to be pulled by horses and could not be brought in to the house.

in 1903, Booth started his company which dealt with making his flagship invention, which was a smaller version of the electric vehicle that came to one’s house in a bright red van and was operated by technicians in company uniforms. This became popular with the fashionable homes in the area soon, so much so that it even gained favour with the British royal family.

Booth also designed and built bridges, engines for the Royal Navy battleships, Ferris wheels in England, France and Austria. He, however, made sure that his legacy would survive after him. The vacuum cleaners we use today are more efficient and smaller in size than Booth’s wagon-sized engine, but his contribution to the way the world cleaned its homes changed made domestic life easier forever.