February is Black History Month! Celebrate this month by celebrating African American Inventors.

John Albert Burr: In 1899 he patented an improved rotary blade lawn mower. He designed a lawn mower with traction wheels and a rotary blade that made it easier for lawn clippings to not get stuck. He also made it possible to mow closer to buildings and edges by improving the design of lawn mowers. He received U.S. patent 624,749.

Emmett W. Chappelle: Chappelle has received 14 U.S. patents and has been recognized as one of the 100 most distinguished African American scientists and engineers of the 20th Century. He began his career with NASA in 1966 and supported NASA's manned space flight projects. He began the development of the ingredients in all cellular material and later developed techniques that are still widely used for the detection of bacteria.

Ruth J. Miro: Ruth invented personalized paper rings. They can be used for sorting, filing loose papers, index cards, recipe cards, photo pages, memos etc. Ruth Miro has been issued U.S. patent #6,113,298 for a paper ring and patent #6,764,100 for a stationery organizer.

Thomas Jennings: Jennings was first known African American to hold a patent. Thomas Jennings' patent was for a dry-cleaning process called "dry scouring". He was 30 years old when he was granted a patent for a dry cleaning process. Thomas Jennings was a free tradesman and operated a dry cleaning business in New York City.

Visit our first African American Inventor Section for more profiles of famous and historically significant African American Inventors.