Necessity and ingenuity have long been driving forces behind the world's great inventions, and the Hoover vacuum cleaner is no exception. The story begins in 1907. Murray Spangler, an inventor who worked nights as a janitor, was cleaning rugs in a Canton, Ohio, department store. But all the dust raised from his broom aggravated his asthma, and he called upon his inventor's creativity to find a solution to the problem.