Household & Everyday Life
This Black inventor patented a folding ironing board in 1892, improving domestic chores.
Who is Sarah Boone?
Improved a mechanical peanut picker that revolutionized peanut farming.
Who is George Washington Carver?
Created a precursor to modern fax machines in the 1880s.
Who is Granville T. Woods?
Invented an automatic lubricating cup for steam engines, ensuring smoother running trains.
Who is Elijah McCoy?
First to develop a technique for storing blood plasma for long-term use.
Who is Charles Drew?
Invented the first traffic signal with a third “warning” light in 1923.
Who is Garrett Morgan?
Invented the first system to keep ice frozen for transporting perishable foods.
Who is Frederick McKinley Jones?
Invented the color PC monitor circuitry still used in early computing systems.
Who is Mark Dean?
Designed the first practical gas mask, later used in mining and military.
Who is Garrett Morgan?
Invented a specialized cleaning solution to sterilize surgical instruments in hospitals.
Who is Alice H. Parker? (also known for heating innovation)
Created a modern hair comb with unique teeth spacing to prevent hair breakage.
Who is Willie Lee Morrow (1939-2022)?
Created an improved process for producing instant coffee.
Who is Marjorie Joyner?
Developed the first portable traffic signal that could be moved to different intersections.
Who is Garrett Morgan? (focus here: portability, not 3-light signal)
Patented a method for making railroad tracks safer and easier to repair.
Who is Granville T. Woods?
Created a blood plasma processing method that became standard in hospitals during WWII.
Who is Charles Drew?
Invented a folding cabinet bed to save space in small homes. He was born in about 1825 to a free African-American family.
Who is Leonard C. Bailey?
Developed a new method for canning fruits and vegetables safely for commercial sale.
Who is Norbert Rillieux?
Invented a home security system with remote monitoring in the 1960s.
Who is Marie Van Brittan Brown?
Built a prototype for a three-wheeled, self-propelled automobile in 1899.
Who is Frederick Patterson?
Developed improved insulated medical storage containers for vaccines.
Who is Otis Boykin?
Developed a portable pencil sharpener still widely used in schools today, patented in 1897.
Who is John Lee Love?
Innovated a peanut-butter-making machine that allowed large-scale production.
Who is Marcellus Gilmore Edson?
Created a method to electronically measure the heart’s activity using a device that became an early ECG.
Who is Otis Boykin?
Invented a rotary engine design concept still studied in mechanical engineering today.
Who is Lewis Latimer?
Innovated a new method for detecting small electrical signals in the brain, precursor to EEG technology.
Who is Norbert Rillieux? (focus: scientific measurement, not food)