Fact #1

Elijah McCoy (1843 – 1929) invented an automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines in 1872. The term “the real McCoy” is believed to be a reference about the reliability of Elijah McCoy’s invention.

Fact #2

Garrett Augustus Morgan (1877 – 1963) invented, among many other things, a 3-way automatic stop sign, which he sold to General Electric. It was used in the U.S. until the 3-light traffic sign was developed.

Fact #3

Otis Boykin (1920 -1982) invented electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers, and the control unit for a pacemaker.

Fact #4

George Carruthers (1939 – ) invented the far ultraviolet electrographic camera, used in the 1972 Apollo 16 mission. This invention revealed new features of Earth’s far-outer atmosphere and deep-space objects from the perspective of the lunar surface. Carruthers was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 2003.

Fact #5

James West’s (1931 – ) research in sound technology led to the development of foil-electret transducers used in 90% of all microphones built today and in most new telephones being manufactured. West holds 47 U.S. and more than 200 foreign patents on microphones and techniques for making polymer foil-electrets. He was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame in 1999.

Fact #6

Mark Dean (1957 – ) along with his co-inventor Dennis Moelle created a microcomputer system with bus control means for peripheral processing devices. This invention allows the use of computer plug-ins like disk drives, speakers, scanners, etc…

Fact #7

George T. Sampson invented a clothes dryer that used heat from a stove in 1892.

Fact #8

John Love invented the pencil sharpener in 1897.

Fact #9

Henry Brown created what is now known as a “strongbox”, a metal container to store money and important papers that could be locked with a key in 1886.

Fact #10

David Crosthwait Jr. (1898 – 1979) an expert on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, holds 39 U.S. patents and 80 international patents pertaining to heating, refrigeration and temperature regulating systems. Crosthwait created the heating system for New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.

Source: Biography.com