In the early 1800s, clothes dryers were first being invented in England and France. One common kind of early clothes dryer was the ventilator, the first one known to be built was made by a Frenchman named Pochon. The ventilator was a barrel-shaped metal drum with holes in it. It was turned by hand over a fire.
One early American patent for a clothes dryer was granted to George T. Sampson on June 7, 1892. Sampson's dryer used the heat from a stove to dry clothes and is an example of a ventilator type machine. View - U.S. patent #476,416
Electrical Clothes Dryers
Electrical clothes dryers appeared around 1915. Modern clothes dryers include such features as electronic sensors that detect when clothes are dry.
