Picture this- Millions of people do this routine: After waking up, they get up and take a shower; they use an iron board to press out their work clothes; since the room is pretty warm, they turn on the air conditioner to cool off; After using a hair brush in order to get ready for work, they go downstairs, open the refrigerator door to make some eggs. Then they use an egg beater to make some scrambled eggs. After breakfast, they leave for work after getting their cell phone and use the key on their key chain to lock the back door. So what does an iron board, air conditioner, hair brush, refrigerator, egg beater, cell phone key chain and lock have in common? All of those just mentioned products were created by African-Americans.
This article will focus on African-American Inventors who made products that we used almost every single day. These inventors created some amazing products that a lot of people didn't know, but sadly in the era of Jim Crow, they never received the credit or for that matter reap in the fortune that they richly deserve. In some case, these inventors created the product and without providing a patent for their invention, told people about their new creation. Since the product was not patented, these people would go somewhere to steal... I mean...make their own product, slap their name on it and gain instant fame. While doing research in this topic, it is truly amazing to find out that each inventor made their product with very primitive material, unlike the technology that we have in today's world.
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Here's the list of each inventor and their creation. You will be surprised by what is on the list!
Inventor---Invention ---Date of Invention
A.P. Ashbourne---Biscuit Cutter---November 30, 1875
Benjamin Banneker ---Almanac ---1791
Patricia Bath ---updated a device to remove cataracts---1988
Miriam Benjamin ---"Gong and Signal" chair (Used in Hotels) --- July 17,1888
Edward Berger---Spark Plug---February 2, 1839
Henry Blair---Seed Planting Device---October 14, 1834
Henry Blair---Cotton Planting Device---1836
Sarah Boone---Iron Board---December 30, 1897
Bordy and Surgwar Folding Chair June 11, 1889
Otis Boykin Control Unit for Pacemaker 1961
Benjamin Bradley---A Steam Powered Warship Engine--- 1856
Henry Brown---Fire/Burglar Resistant Safe---November 2, 1886
L.A. Burr---Lawnmower---May 19, 1889
Charles Brooks---Street Sweeper---March 17, 1890
Lee Burridge & Newman Marshman---Typewriter---April 7, 1885
T.A. Carrington---Stove---July 25, 1876
George R. Curruthers---Far-Ultraviolet Camera and Spectrograph---November 11, 1969
W.C. Carter---Umbrella Stand---1885
George Washington Carver---Peanut Butter--1839
M.A. Cherry---Tricycle---May 6, 1886
G. Cook---Auto Fishing Device---May 30, 1899
A.L. Cralle---Ice Cream Scooper---February 2, 1897
David Crosthwaut, Jr.---Heating System for Radio City Music Hall--- 1934
George Crum---Potato Chip--- 1853
Mark Dean--Led his team to create 1st gigahertz computer processor chip---1999
O. Dorsey---Door Stop---December 10, 1878
Paul Downing---Mail Box---October 27, 1891
Charles Drew---Blood Plasma---1945
T. Elikins---Chamber Commode---January 3, 1897
Henry Faulkner---Ventilated Shoe---1890
O.A. Fisher---Furniture Caster---1878
Robert Flemming Jr. Guitar March 3, 1866
Sarah E. Goode--Folding Bed--July 14, 1885
George Grant---Golf Tee---December 12, 1899
William S. Grant---Curtain Rod Support---August 4, 1896
Blessie Blount Griffin---An electronic feeding device for amputees---1951
Michael C. Harvey--- Lantern---August 19, 1884
Joseph Hawkins---Metal Oven Rack---1800's
L.R. Johnson--Bicycle Frame--October 10, 1899
Lonnie Johnson--Super Soaker--November 13, 1989
P. Johnson---Eye Protector---November 2, 1880
Willie Johnson---Egg Beater---February 5, 1884
Frederick M. Jones---Movie Ticket Dispenser---June, 1939
Frederick M. Jones---Motor---June 27, 1939
Frederick M. Jones---Air Condtioning Unit---July 12, 1949
Lewis Latimer---Electric Lightbulb---March 21, 1882
Joseph Lee---Automatic Bread Making Machine---August 7, 1894
Joseph Lee---Bread Crumb Machine June 4, 1895
F.D. Loudin---Key Chain---January 9, 1894
J.C. Love---Pencil Sharpener---November 27, 1897
W.A. Martin---Lock---July 23, 1889
Alexander Miles---Elevator---October 11, 1867
Garrett Morgan---Gas Mask---October 13, 1914
Garrett Morgan---Traffic Light---November 20, 1923
Lydia O. Newman---Hair Brush---November 15,1898
Robert Pelham---Tabulation Device---December 19, 1905
Robert Pelham---Tallying Machine for U.S. Census---1913
Walter Purvis---Hand Stamp---February 27, 1883
William B. Purvis---Fountain Pen---January 7, 1890
Lawrence P. Ray---Dust Pan---August 3, 1897
John W. Reed---Rolling Pin---1864
A.C. Richard---Insect Destroyer Gun---February 28, 1899
W. H. Richardson---Baby Carriage---June 18, 1889
J. Ricks---Horseshoe---March 30, 1885
James Robinson---Lunch/Dinner Pail---February 1, 1887
G. T. Sampson---Clothes Dryer---June 6, 1862
Henry Sampson---Cell Phone---July 6, 1971
S.R Scratton---Curtain Rod---November 30, 1889
John Standard---Refrigerator---June 14, 1891
Thomas Stewart---Mop---June 11, 1893
Benjamin Thornton--A device that was the precursor to the Answer Machine---November 10, 1931
Madame C.J. Walker---Straightening Comb---1905
Ulysses S Walton---Dentures--- March 23, 1943
John Thomas White---Lemon Squeezer---December 8, 1893
Jerome Wicks--Patio Door Lock and WindowGuard Protection---April 20, 1982
Daniel Hale Williams---1st Successful Open Heart Surgery---July 9, 1893
Joseph Winters--Fire Escape Ladder--May 7, 1878
Granville T. Woods---Auto Cut-off Switch---January 1, 1839
Granville T. Woods---Phone Transmitter---December 2, 1884
It's a shame that the majority of theses inventors did not live enough to gain the recognition that they deserve. The goal of this article is to shed light on these great people and their contributions to society.
How Inventors Shape Our Lives Everyday
