Promise - The Bizness Hourz

Promise - The Bizness Hourz

Milwaukee Native, Music Lover, College Grad, Fly Intellectual, Microphone Checker, Mr. Personality. As a young kid recording tapes off the radio,...Full Bio

 

Black History Facts: Garrett Morgan (Inventor)

Garrett Morgan (Inventor) 1877-1963

Garrett Morgan blazed a trail for African-American inventors with his patents, including those for a hair-straightening product, a breathing device, a revamped sewing machine and an improved traffic signal. With only an elementary school education, Garrett Morgan, born in Kentucky on March 4, 1877, began his career as a sewing-machine mechanic. In 1923, he created a new kind of traffic signal, one with a warning light to alert drivers that they would need to stop, after witnessing a carriage accident at a particularly problematic intersection in the city. Morgan quickly acquired patents for his traffic signal—a rudimentary version of the modern three-way traffic light—in the United States, Britain and Canada, but eventually sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000. Via Biography.com


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