Remember when everyone knew when the dishwasher was running? Sure. But not anymore. Today's dishwasher technology has made them virtually silent.

We've come a long way since the first dishwasher was invented in 1850. It was a wooden machine containing a hand-cranked wheel that splashed some water on dishes.

Household dishwashers went into production in 1947, soon after World War II, and the appliance became widely available by 1950. Additional advances in technology brought solid-state controls, energy saving, features and increased convenience by the late 1970s.

Today's dishwashers are designed with additional improvements in cleaning, water efficiency, and quiet operations. Most dishwashers today provide a number of cycle choices so consumers can match a cycle to the type of load, increasing efficiency of both cleaning and resource use.

And, oh yeah, they are so quiet you'll forget they're running!