top of page
yvonne413

Inventions The World Could Not Live Without if it Wasn’t For Us!




Did you know there are over hundreds of inventions by Black people that all humans use, experience, eat, drink, or enjoy around the world today?


George Washington Carver with three hundred plus inventions and others, the numbers are so much more impressive.




According to the Brookings Institute, of the 50,000 total patents, Black people accounted for more inventions during this period than immigrants from every country except England and Germany. From 1870 to 1940, Black people living in the North were eight times more likely to be awarded a patent than Black people living in the South. In their database, 87% of inventions were traced to people born in the United States, and 2.7% of the U.S. total were invented by Black Americans, It is estimated that Black people accounted for just under 50,000 total patents during this period.



The hairbrush Pressure Cooker Ultraviolet Camera


To highlight some of the major inventions, here is a list of 25:

1. Folding Bed Cabinet (1885) Sarah Goode

2. The Potato Chip George Crum

3. Gas Mask and the Traffic Light Garrett Morgan

4. Protective Mailbox Phillip B. Downing

5. Blood Bank Dr. Charles Drew

6. Home Security System, Home Security System

7. Refrigerated Trucks, Frederick McKinley Jones

8. Automatic Elevator Doors, Alexander Miles

9. Color IBM PC Monitor & the Gigahertz Chip, Dr. James West

10. Supersoaker, Lonnie Johnson

11. Tissue Holder, Mary Kenner

12. Automatic Gear Shift, Richard Spikes

13. Clothes Dryer, George T. Sampson

14. Dustpan, Lloyd P. Ray

15. Folding Chair, John Purdy

16. Golf Tees, Dr. George Gant

17. Ice Cream Scooper, Alfred L. Cralle

18. Lawnmower, John Albert Burr

19. Lawn Sprinkler, Joseph A. Smith

20. Modern Toilet, Thomas Elkins

21. The Mop, Thomas W. Stewart

22. Reversible Baby Stroller, William Richardson

23. Street Sweepers, C.B. Brooks

24. Horseshoe, Oscar E. Brown

25. Horse Bridle Bit, L.F. Brown

26. Train Alarm, R.A. Butler

27. Disposable Syringe, Phil Brooks

28. Torpedo Discharger, H. Bradberry

29. Printing Press, W.A. Lavalette

30. Pressure Cooker, Maurice W. Lee

31. Window Cleaner, A.L. Lewis

32. Portable Pencil Sharpener, John L. Love

33. Fire Extinguisher, Tom J. Marshal

34. Hairbrush, Lyda Newman

35. Heating Furnace — Alice H. Parker

36. Blimp — J.F. Pickering

37. Hand Stamp — W.B. Purvis

38. Fountain Pen — W.B. Purvis

39. Cellular Phone — Henry Sampson

40. Guitar — Robert Flemming Jr.



We were so enormously proud when we listed these inventors, we could not stop. To read a full list of inventors, please log on to 120 things you probably didn’t know were created by Black inventors | Venture (dailyhive.com)



24 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page