1901 - first powered cleaner employing a vacuum was patented and produced by British inventor Hubert Booth
Watched a demonstration of a device used in trains that blew dust off the chairs - thought it would be much more useful to have one that sucked dust
Tested the idea by laying a handkerchief on the seat of a restaurant chair, putting his mouth to the handkerchief, and then trying to suck up as much dust as he could onto the handkerchief.
Saw the dust and dirt collect on the underside of the handkerchief
Realized idea could work
Booth created a large device, known as Puffing Billy, driven first by an oil engine, and later by an electric motor. It was drawn by horses and parked outside the building to be cleaned
Started the British Vacuum Cleaner Company
Refined his invention over the next several decades.
Though his "[Goblin]" model lost out to competition from Hoover in the household vacuum market
Company successfully turned its focus to the industrial market, building ever-larger models for factories and warehouses
Booth's company lives on today as a unit of pneumatic tube system maker Quirepace Ltd.