From scrubbing clothes by hand against stones, the invention of the scrub board in 1797 was only a slight improvement. In the 1800s, hand-turned drums were the beginning of the washing machine, as we know it today. Still, it wasn't until William Blackstone designed the first hand-driven washing machine for home use in 1874 that technology began the fast leap forward that would combine with the invention of the dryer to revolutionize the way laundry is done. Today, nearly every home has a washer and dryer. Even though the basic design of the dryer has not changed much in hundreds of years, changes are in the making. New technologies and designs for dryers that use solar power or microwaves may soon make the traditional tumble dryer as obsolete as the scrub board.