It is difficult to imagine what it would be like today to be in a car without a windshield. Well, for many years it was like that. The wind, the rain, the snow, insects, small stones…, everything was discomfort and danger. Although thanks to the Frenchman Émile Benedictus, inventor of the windshield, things changed radically. The windscreen, an invention that dates back to 1903, and today one of the most essential safety elements in any vehicle. It was discovered by chance in 1903 when the French inventor Edouard Benedictus dropped a glass on the floor and did not break as it contained cellulose nitrate that had been dried inside.

Ford’s founder, Henry Ford, was a pioneer in making car glass safer as the public was afraid to install this element in cars because of the breakage caused by the first glass due to its fragility. Ford commissioned one of its best designers to make a stronger glass.

From the 1930s, laminated glass became popular and began to be used in gas masks and vehicles. That’s when the windshield becomes one of the most important safety innovations by reducing injuries, preventing passengers from being thrown and protecting the car from being crushed.