Born in 1905, Ruth Wakefield grew up to be a dietician and food lecturer after graduating from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. Ruth and her husband Kenneth bought a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn, where she prepared the recipes for meals that were served to guests. In 1930, Ruth was mixing a batch of cookies for her guests when she realized that she was out of baker's chocolate. Ruth substituted broken pieces of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate, expecting it to melt and absorb into the dough to create chocolate cookies. That didn't happen, but the surprising result helped to make Ruth Wakefield one of the 20th century's most famous women inventors. When she removed the pan from the oven, Wakefield had accidentally invented "chocolate chip cookies."

Andrew Nestle and Ruth agreed to have Nestle print the recipe on each package of his chocolates and Ruth received a lifetime of free semi-sweet morsels.

More Info: women-inventors.com