Martin Ahlene built a one-horsepower gasoline engine when he was 17 years old to attach to his widowed mother’s hand washing machine. Mr. Ahlene, who started factory work at age 14 in Moline, ended ...

While tech advances have given us all some impressive washing machine features, the core of the machine remains simple: Water is pumped in a big drum with cloths, the big drum spins around, and water ...