Inventions by black people are considered rare. As man has gradually evolved, inventing tools for the money, out of necessity, for fun, and making life easier, inventions by black people have been part of humanity’s development.
Here are five inventions you may not know were created by black people!
Automatic Elevator Doors – Alexander Miles
Using elevators keeps people from long gruelling climbs upstairs. However, before African American Alexander Miles invented automatic elevator doors, riding an elevator was risky and complicated.
Before 1887, people had to fasten elevator doors and the shaft manually before riding. They risked falling if they forgot to shut either one.
When Alexander Miles’ daughter almost suffered an accident because of this snag, he worked on a solution.
Miles came up with a programmed system to open and close elevator doors and took out a patent for it in 1887. This automatic mechanism is what you see in today’s elevators.
Colored Computer IBM Monitor – Mark E. Dean
IBM released the Xerox Alto Computer on March 1, 1973, and the first computer monitor. The first monitor used Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology with a monochrome display, which displayed only one colour. It utilized only the “Green Screen.”
However, all this changed with the exploits of one black inventor, Mark Dean. Dean was a brilliant engineer and computer scientist from Jefferson City, Tennessee, who joined IBM as lead engineer in the 1980s. Leading a team of 12, Mark Dean invented IBM’s first coloured computer monitor in the late 1980s.
Home Security System – Marie Van Brittan Brown
The modern home security system came as a necessity in 1966 when black inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown devised a personalized security system for her home while her husband was away. She spent most of her nights alone at home in Queens, New York. According to reports, Queens had high insecurity rates, and police were complacent.
Marie couldn’t feel safe, so she created a system that used a camera that slid into four peepholes on her front door. The cameras relayed feedback to a monitor in her house to survey unwanted guests.
Marie further perfected her system to entail a microphone that let her talk to anyone at her front door, open the door, and notify the police. Marie Brown and her husband got a patent for the invention in 1969. Her simple concept has been the foundation in developing modern security systems.
Three-Light Traffic Light – Garrett Morgan
Garrett Morgan is perhaps one of the most attractive black inventors on this list. He had only an elementary school education, and his parents were enslaved.
Regardless, he came up with several inventions, including the gas mask and the sewing machine. However, none was groundbreaking, as the improved three-light traffic light. His invention came in the 1920s and quickly gained traction since it entailed endless activities on the road.
Interestingly, Morgan’s invention came to him when he was cruising around and almost witnessed an accident in Cleveland, Ohio, his hometown.
In response, Garrett proposed a change to the traditional traffic light, and he came up with the “yield” component that warned drivers of an impending call to halt. He got the patent for this invention in 1924.
Carbon Light Filament – Lewis Latimer
Everybody thinks that the light bulb was Thomas Edison’s brainchild. However, Edison’s technology came from black inventor Lewis Latimer.
Lewis, the son of formerly enslaved parents, worked in a patent law firm after serving in the military during the Civil War. Latimer had a talent for drafting patents and soon became head of the department where he was part of the team that invented improved bathrooms for railroad locomotives.
His successes in the patent department earned him recognition from the United States Electric Lighting Company, and he went head to head with Thomas Edison in 1880. While working with the United States Electric Lighting Company, Latimer invented the carbon light filament, replacing run-of-the-mill incendiary materials commonly used to make filaments.
Latimer’s invention increased the light bulb’s longevity, which previously died in less than four days.
Lewis’ invention earned him a position at the Edison Electric Light Company, where he worked with Thomas Edison, the father of the light bulb.
Which do you think is the most significant invention to date? Comment below!
