Do you know which of these “6 Everyday Inventions That Debuted at World’s Fairs,” from a list assembled by History.com, are from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition?

1. telephone
2. zipper
3. dishwasher
4. electrical plug and socket
5. television
6. touchscreens

Josephine Cochrane (1839–1913) of Shelbyville, IL, is credited with inventing the dishwashing machine, which she exhibited in the Inventions Room of the Woman’s Building.

Whitcomb L. Judson is widely recognized as the inventor of the zipper, which he patented as the “clasp locker” shoe fastener. Many secondary sources claim that Judson exhibited his invention at the 1893 World’s Fair, but we have not found a listing in the Official Catalogue to support this. The Judson L. Thomson Manufacturing Company (listed as “Judson, L. Thompson M’f’g Co. in one edition of the Official Catalogue and as the “Thompson, Judson L., M’f’g Co.” in another), exhibited “rivets and rivet machinery” in the Leather and Shoe Trades Building. (Note the alternate spellings of Thomson/Thompson.) Inventor Whitcomb L. Judson, however, reportedly was from Chicago, so this may be a mere name coincidence. We welcome any primary evidence that Judson exhibited what would become the famous zipper at the 1893 World’s Fair.