I cleaned my cat box today, and as I was sitting there scooping out the clumps, I thought to myself "I wonder who invented cat-litter?" I checked E2, and saw that it didn’t have the answer that I required, so I settled down to look the old fashioned way, with Google.
The answer I found was simply, Ed Lowe. Ed Lowe started the kitty litter business in 1948 after being prompted by distraught cat owner and neighbor Kay Draper. Before the introduction of Kitty Litter most people who had cats lived with a sand pile outside from which they would refill their cat boxes. The unfortunate thing was if they lived in an area prone to 6 months of inclement weather, as is the case with Cassopolis, Michigan where Ed Lowe and Kay Draper were from, it was almost impossible to get good sand during the winter. After trying all sorts of things, including saw dust and ashes from the fireplace Kay Draper contacted her neighbors the Lowe's who worked with industrial strength absorbents.
Ed Lowe came up with the idea of using ground up kiln-fired clay mixed with bentonite and improved upon the idea by giving it better odor-control, dust-control and clumping properties. Lowe then spent years selling his "kitty litter" to pet stores and pet owners. Over 50 years later people are still using cat litter. We know who to thank now.
http://nh.essortment.com/kittylitterwho_rixo.htm