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Garrett Augustus Morgan: American Inventor

Garrett Augustus Morgan (March 4, 1877 - August 27, 1963), was an African-American inventor and businessman. He was the first person to patent a traffic signal. He also developed the gas mask (and many other inventions).

Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky, and was the son of former slaves (and the 7th of their 11 children). His formal education ended during elementary school.

As a a teenager (in 1895), Morgan moved north to Cincinnati, Ohio, looking for opportunity. His incredible ability to repair machinery led to many job offers from factories. In 1907, he started his own sewing equipment and repair shop. His business expanded in 1909; he employed 32 people, who used equipment that Morgan made (and invented) himself.

In 1920, Morgan went into the newspaper business, starting the "Cleveland Call." He was very successful, and eventually bought a car. While he was driving along the streets of Cleveland, he realized how unsafe intersections were, and was determined to make driving safer.

Morgan patented a traffic signal on November 20, 1923 (U.S. patent No. 1,475,024, issued in 1923) - this was the first traffic signal patented, but not the first invented. His traffic signal was a T-shaped pole with arms (but with no lights) that has three signs, one or more of which popped out at a time: a red "stop," a green "go," and another red "stop in all directions." This last signal let pedestrians cross the street. It was controlled by an electric clock mechanism. This device became very popular, and was used all around the USA. Morgan sold his device to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000 (a huge sum at that time). His device was used until the three-light traffic light was developed.

Morgan developed many other inventions, including a safety hood and smoke protector for firefighters (patent No. 1,113,675, in 1912), a gas mask (patent No. 1,090,936, in 1914). He also developed a zig-zag sewing machine attachment, a hair straightener, hair dying lotions, de-curling hair combs (patent No. 2,763,281, in 1956), and other inventions.
 

George Washington Carver (1865?-1943) was an American scientist, educator, humanitarian, and former slave. Carver developed hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes, pecans, and soybeans; his discoveries greatly improved the agricultural output and the health of Southern farmers. Before this, the only main crop in the South was cotton. The products that Carver invented included a rubber substitute, adhesives, foodstuffs, dyes, pigments, and many other products.
 

George was born in Missouri and was a sickly child. He was orphaned when he was young, and was brought up by Moses and Susan Carver on their farm. He began school at age 12 and later attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he was the first black student. He transferred to Iowa Agricultural College to study science, earning a Bachelor of Science degree (in 1894) and a Master of Science degree in bacterial botany and agriculture (in 1897). He then became the first black faculty member at that college.

Booker T. Washington convinced Carver to teach at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes (now called Tuskegee University) in Alabama, USA, where Carver headed the agricultural department for 50 years. Carver donated his life savings to a fund designed to encourage agricultural research.

Norbert Rillieux: American Inventor

Norbert Rillieux (March 17, 1806-October 8, 1894) was an African-American inventor and engineer who invented a device that revolutionized sugar processing. Rillieux's multiple effect vacuum sugar evaporator (patented in 1864) made the processing of sugar more efficient, faster, and much safer. The resulting sugar was also superior. His apparatus was eventually adopted by sugar processing plants all around the world.

Rillieux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. His mother had been a slave and his father was a wealthy white sugar plantation owner. Norbert's brilliance was noticed early in his life. He was educated in Paris, France, and later taught engineering in Paris. Rillieux published many steam engineering papers.

While in Paris, Rillieux learned that the boiling point of liquids is reduced as the pressure is reduced (like in a vacuum). Rillieux applied this to the processing of sugar, heating the cane sugar in a vacuum, and re-using the steam in the processing procedure. This resulted in a highly efficient mechanical process that replaced the old, laborious, dangerous, and costly method of processing sugar by hand that was called the "Jamaica train."

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