You can thank Black inventors for GIFs, Google Maps… and the Super Soaker
UK: OCTOBER IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Kirsten Robertson
From Google Maps to GIFs, Black inventors have paved the way for making life that little bit easier.
Left your house today? You’ve got Osbourn Dorsey to thank for that one – he invented a door knob in 1878.
Ignored a call from a pesky sales company? Dr Shirley Jackson made that possible after paving the way for caller ID.
The stories of Black gamechangers have been told in films such as Selma, Hidden Figures and One Night In Miami.
But there are plenty more whose stories haven’t made the big screen.
To mark Black History Month, read our list of ten inspiring inventors who have made their mark in the history books.
Marie Van Brittan Brown: the woman who transformed her fear into innovation
Marie, born in Jamaica, Queens, was a New York nurse who created the first home security system at the age of 40. She worked alongside her husband Albert Brown to tinker with peepholes, cameras, monitors and microphones.
Together, they made a security system model that is still used as foundation today.
The couple’s invention had been inspired in part by their irregular work hours. Marie’s job as a nurse and Albert’s career as an electrician meant both were often out the house at unpredictable times.
Marie was often home alone and would be scared to open the front door to strangers. Crime was rife in Queens and the police were notorious for being slow in callouts.
As a result, she came up with the idea for a security system which could put people’s minds – including hers – at ease.
It featured a camera on a pulley so it could slide between four different peepholes and set about creating a two-way microphone system to allow people to speak through the door.
Brown was quoted in the New York Times as saying that with her invention ‘a woman alone could set off an alarm immediately by pressing a button, or if the system were installed in a doctor’s office, it might prevent holdups by drug addicts’.
Their invention was such a huge success that it transformed the western world’s view of safety as a whole.
CCTV cameras popped up in increasing number in cities and other inventors used Marie and Albert’s creation as a starting point to create their own security systems.
Brown – with the peace of mind her own device brought her – remained in Queens, New York until her death at the age of 76 in 1999.
Marie’s daughter, Norma Brown, followed in her mother’s footsteps and became both a nurse and an inventor. She created an anti-rape device patented in June 1998.
Lonnie Johnson: the man who brought a soaking to America
It’s every child’s dream come true – and every parent’s worst nightmare – during summer. The Super Soaker has been massively popular since it’s release in 1991.
The colourful watergun is wielded by children worldwide once the Sun comes out.
It was created by Lonnie Johnson who had initially called the product the ‘Power Drencher’ before changing the name to ‘Super Soaker.’ He combined a traditional water gun with a ‘toy projectile’ to create the water-based weapon.
Johnson hadn’t actually been a toymaker by trade, but worked for Nasa as an aerospace engineer. Prior to his foray into the water gun world, he worked on the Galileo Jupiter probe and Mars Observer project.
It was in 1989 that he created his own engineering firm and licensed the Super Soaker® water gun to Larami Corporation, which was later bought over by Hasbro Corporation.
In an interview with USPTO, he recalled stumbling upon the idea for the Super Soaker at his home in California.
He told the publication: ‘I was working for Nasa at the time, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and I would go home and work on my own projects.
‘I machined these nozzles and, and I’d hook them up to the sink in my bathroom, and I was looking at the stream of water coming out of a nozzle, and I turned and shot the stream across the bathroom, and I thought “jeez it would be neat to have a really powerful toy water gun”.’
The Super Soaker would go on to generate $200 million of sales in the same year of its release and became the top selling toy in America.
Over the years, Super Soaker sales have totalled close to one billion dollars.
Gladys West: the woman who put maths on the map
Gladys West carried out pioneering work that would lead to the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS.)
The mathematician grew up in the rural town of Sutherland, Virginia.
West was hired to work at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia in 1956 – the second Black woman ever to work there and one of just four Black employees.
In the role, she would go onto participate in an award-winning study that proved the regularity of Pluto’s motion relative to Neptune. She would create models of Earths’ shape and delved into data from Nasa’s Geodetic Earth Orbiting program.
In the late Seventies and early Eighties, West’s sole focus surrounded an IBM 7030 Stretch computer. Using the technology, she created precise calculations that would help detail the shape of the Earth.
To do so, she made use of complex algorithms that surrounded variations caused by tidal, gravitational and similar forces that could impact the shape. This model would later be used as the basis for the Global Positioning System (GPS) which we know and love today.
Her story was told in part in the Hidden Figures film which highlighted the monumental work of Black women in Nasa.
Godfrey Weekes, former commanding officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, said of West: ‘She rose through the ranks, worked on the satellite geodesy, and contributed to the accuracy of GPS and the measurement of satellite data. As Gladys West started her career… in 1956, she likely had no idea that her work would impact the world for decades to come.’
Today, the GPS system she helped create is still used as the basis of online map services such as Google Maps. Whichever way you’re pointing, you’ve got Gladys West to thank.
Dr Shirley Jackson: the woman who connected the world
The innovator helped guide the world towards ground-breaking inventions such as the touch-tone telephone, caller ID, call waiting, the fibre-optic cable and the portable fax machine. That’s quite the CV.
Dr Jackson, who grew up in Washington, DC, earned a theoretical physics degree from MIT university in America. She was the second African-American woman in the US to earn a doctorate in physics.
While working at Bell Laboratories, an institution famed for its work, she helped impact the birth of various key inventions. Her scientific research carried out was integral to the creation of the portable fax machine, fibre optic cables and the technology behind caller ID.
The physicist stressed she wasn’t the sole inventor of each item but, nevertheless, her ground-breaking research led Time Magazine to describe her as ‘perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science’.
Today, Dr Jackson is the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest technological research university in the US.
When asked to give advice for next generation, she said: ‘I would offer this advice to any young woman inspired by the possibility of discovery and innovation: Do not let others define who you are. Define yourself.
‘Do not be limited by what others expect of you, but reach confidently for the stars.’
George Carver: the man who paved the way for peanut butter
George Carver grew up on a vast farm near Diamond, Missouri – with his exact birthdate unknown. He is thought to have been born in either January or June of 1864, but the history books aren’t too sure.
He was born into the slave trade and had a traumatic upbringing – at one point his family was kidnapped – but he still successfully managed to leave home and later obtain a Master’s degree in agricultural science from Iowa State University. After a spell as a teacher, he turned his hand to inventing.
Carver developed hundreds of products using peanuts – which paved the way for the creation of peanut butter. He also worked on techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton.
Fascinated by environmentalism, he urged farmers of the period to restore nitrogen to their soils by practising systematic crop rotation – alternating cotton crops with plantings of sweet potatoes or legumes, such as peanuts, soybeans and cowpeas.
In 1922, Carver published recipes for more than 150 products made from the humble sweet potato – from dyes to synthetic silk to after dinner mints.
He was one of the most prominent Black scientists of the early 20th Century and, in 1941, Time magazine dubbed Carver a ‘Black Leonardo’ in reference to the legendary artist, polymath and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci.
Upon his death in 1943, his childhood home in Missouri was named a national monument. This was a first for the Black American community.
Madam CJ Walker: the self-made millionaire who transformed Black hair care
Madam CJ Walker pioneered a line of hair products that would make her millions. She had spotted a gap in the market with no products specifically tailored towards Black women.
Born Sarah Breedlove in 1867, she was brought up on a plantation in Louisiana and escaped poverty to embark on a career in the beauty industry.
After years of struggling financially, she found her big break when she joined African American businesswoman Annie Turbo Malone’s sales team.
She sold various hair products and found a husband in the form of Charles Joseph Walker. Confidence restored, she changed her name and launched her first invention – Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower.
Released in 1905, it was a huge commercial success, and a line of hair products and straighteners soon followed. Soon, Walker was one of the most wealthy African American women of the period.
Her inspiring life caught the eye of Netflix, who made a series based of her life called Self Made.
During Walker’s career, the inventor used her voice to stand up for equal rights. She used her position as a wealthy and educated Black woman to advocate for an end to lynching, among other racist and barbaric practices. Her company also employed thousands of women as sales agents.
In 1912, she addressed an annual gathering of the National Negro Business League (NNBL) from the convention floor, where she declared: ‘I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen.
‘And from there, I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations. I have built my own factory on my own ground.’
Walker died aged 51 on May 25, 1919.
Lisa Gelobter: the woman who made pictures come alive
If a picture paints a hundred words, a GIF spurs a thousand…
Conversations can be had, reactions made and inside jokes forged through the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Lisa Gelobter, born in 1972, was part of the team behind the technology.
She has also worked on several pioneering internet technologies, including Shockwave, Hulu, and the evolution of online video.
Gelobter graduated from Brown University in 1991 with a computer science degree – with a concentration in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Gelobter would go on to work as the chief digital officer for BET Networks.
The young computer scientist developed the animation used to produce GIF images, forever changing the face of communication for years to come.
GIFs are beloved by the younger generation – who in turn inspire the inventor with her work today.
In an interview with Forbes, she said: ‘I’m inspired by the younger generation. I believe that I can learn a lot from them. I feel like they don’t adhere to our standards and norms.
‘They are about making change and questioning the status quo. I really appreciate it and I want to encourage them to continue to do two things: be true to themselves and make a social impact.’
Alfred L Cralle: the man with one very cool invention
Born in 1866 at the tale end of the American Civil War, Alfred L Cralle grew up in Kenbridge, Virginia. He worked as a carpenter with his father before taking an interest in mechanics.
He was able to put his new passion to good use when he got a place at Wayland Seminary, a school founded to help educate African Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War.
After he graduated, Cralle moved to Pennyslvania where he worked in a Pittsburgh hotel as a porter. Here, he noticed servers struggle to serve chilly ice cream on a regular serving spoon.
On June 10, 1896, he applied for a patent on his invention the ‘Ice Cream Mold and Disher’ which featured a built-in scraper to allow for one-handed ice cream access.
Cralle was just 31 when he created the invention.
His success grew and he went on to become a successful businessman, named as assistant manager with the Afro-American Financial, Accumulating, Merchandise and Business Association in Pittsburgh.
Thank you Alfred, for making ice cream more accessible to us all.
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner: the woman who transformed menstrual care
Born in Monroe, North Carolina, Mary Kenner came from a family of creatives. Her father, Sidney Davidson, created a portable clothing press and a stretcher with wheels for paramedics.
Her sister, Mildred Davidson Austin Smith, invented, patented, and commercially sold board games.
Kenner’s own invention – which made her famous in her own right – was an adjustable sanitary belt with an inbuilt, moisture-proof napkin pocket.
At at time, many women feared leaking blood onto their clothes during their periods as, besides rags and cloths, there were little options. With Kenner’s invention, this was no longer the case.
Despite the groundbreaking invention, the sanitary belt was rejected by the first company that showed interest after they realised Kenner was Black.
Sadly, she would never make money from her invention despite it being widely used. This was due to the fact her patent expired before a company would officially take it on – meaning it was free to be manufactured by anyone.
In an interview, Kenner recalled her false hope at thinking the invention would make her millions.
‘One day I was contacted by a company that expressed an interest in marketing my idea,’ she said. ‘I was so jubilant … I saw houses, cars, and everything about to come to my way.’
Despite the racism she faced in her field, Kenner boldy continued to innovate. According to MIT, she also created a walker with an attachable pocket and tray, a back washer for the shower, and a modernised toilet paper dispenser.
She once said: ‘Everyone person is born with a creative mind. Everyone has that capability.’
Kenner died at the ripe old age of 93 in 2006 after marrying renowned heavyweight boxer James Kenner, who she fostered five children with.
Osbourn Dorsey: the man who opened doors for the world
Our final entry on this list is Osbourn Dorsey, who gave us door knobs.
Little is clear about the inventor’s early life, and it is unclear if he was born free or into the slave trade.
What we do know about Dorsey and his inventions comes, for the most part, from his patent applications.
The inventor changed the way the world opened doors.
Before his ground-breaking invention, people would shut and secure doors with leather strap handles, a latch system or even just a hole in the woodwork – which you could awkwardly stick your finger in to pull open the door.
But Dorsey’s invention created an easy solution for everyone.
It took a few years for people to warm to the idea of a doorknob, but it would later be described as an ‘extraordinary’ and ‘useful upgrade’ in door-holding devices.
