You probably know about George Washington Carver already, but did you know that African Americans have invented so much more? Without these inventions, we wouldn't have tall buildings or shoes or be able to live in hot climates comfortably. Elevators, shoe fasting machines and air conditioning were all invented by African Americans.

Benjamin Banneker (1731 – 1806) Benjamin Banneker was a scientist, astronomer, inventor and writer. Banneker was one of the first African Americans to be recognized for his accomplishments in science.

In 1753, he built the first watch made in America, a wooden pocket watch. Twenty years later, Banneker made astronomical calculations that predicted a 1789 solar eclipse. His estimate was different than ones made by more well-known mathematicians and astronomers of the time. Banneker was right!

Banneker is best known for the six annual Farmer's Almanacs he published between 1792 and 1797. These almanacs included information on machines and medical treatment, and listed tides, astronomical information, and eclipses, all calculated by Banneker himself.

Banneker's mechanical and mathematical abilities impressed many, including Thomas Jefferson who met Banneker while he was working with the surveying team that laid out Washington D.C.

Learn More.

Elijah McCoy (1843–1929) Elijah McCoy was the son of former slaves who escaped via the Underground Railroad. When he was 15 Elijah McCoy traveled to Scotland and studied mechanical engineering. When McCoy returned to the United States he couldn't get an engineering job because he was of African descent. He instead took a job as a railroad fireman (the person who put wood into the furnace).

At that time, locomotives needed to be shut down to be lubricated so they wouldn't overheat. McCoy developed a “lubricating cup” for steam engines. This invention kept the locomotives constantly lubricated. It preventing frequent stops and overheating, and made the railroad more profitable. He patented the lubricating cup in 1872. It worked so well that machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators began to use the expression "the real McCoy" to request his product.

McCoy patented more than 50 other inventions, included a folding ironing board and an automatic sprinkler.

Learn More.

Granville T. Woods (1856–1910) Granville T. Woods learned his skills on the job. Although he had to leave school when he was only ten, Granville T. Woods knew that learning and education were the tools that would allow him to express his creativity with machinery. Woods taught himself by working in railroad machine shops and steel mills, and by reading about electricity. He had friends check out library books for him, since African-Americans were not allowed to use many libraries at the time.

Woods used what he learned to to invent "telegraphony". This invention was purchased by Alexander Graham Bell's company. Telegraphony combined features of both the telephone and telegraph and allowed operators to send and receive messages more quickly than ever before. Woods also invented the multiplex telegraph. This device helped dispatchers locate trains and allowed moving trains to communicate by telegraph.

Learn More.

Garrett Morgan (1877–1963) Garrett A. Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky on March 4, 1877. Like many African-Americans youth of his day, Morgan had to leave school at a young age to work. However the teenaged Morgan hired his own tutor, and continued studying while working as a sewing machine repairman.

In 1907, Morgan opened his own sewing machine repair and tailoring shop which employed 32 people. This was the first of many successful businesses. He also established a newspaper, The Cleveland Call, in 1920. Morgan became a wealthy and respected business man. He is reported to have been the first African American to own an automobile. It was Morgan's experience while driving along the streets of Cleveland that led to his invention of a new type of traffic signal.

In 1912, Morgan invented the safety hood and smoke protector. His invention became known nationally when he used it to save 32 men stuck in a cave collapse near Lake Erie. Fire Departments around the country wanted the gas masks. The invention won gold medals from the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Exposition of Sanitation and Safety. When the U.S. entered World War I the Morgan gas mask was used to equip American troops.

Learn More.

Sarah Boone took an already great idea and made it better! Sarah Boone, patented an improvement to the ironing board (U.S. Patent #473,653) on April 26, 1892. Sarah Boone's ironing board was designed to be effective in ironing the sleeves and bodies of ladies' garments.

Learn More.

Sarah Goode was born into slavery in 1850, Sarah Goode was the first African American Woman to receive a U.S. patent. Her invention, called a "cabinet bed" was what we know of today as a folding bed or "hide away" bed.

Goode owned a furniture store, and knew that people living in small city apartments often had a hard time finding space for beds. Her "cabinet bed" folded up into a desk for daytime use.

Madame C. J. Walker (1867 – 1919) Sarah Breedlove McWilliams Walker, better known as Madame CJ Walker, was born in rural Louisiana. Orphaned at 7 Walker worked the cotton fields and later as a laundry woman. Walker suffered a scalp ailment that caused her to lose some of her hair. Embarrassed by her appearance, she began experimenting with various home remedies, eventually creating and selling Madam Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp conditioning and healing formula.

The business that Madame Walker created with her famous beauty products employed as many as 3,000 people. Her creativity and ambition led her to be the first known African-American woman to become a self-made millionaire.

Learn More.

Jan Matzelinger (1852 – 1889) When Jan Matzeliger immigrated to the United States at age 18 he spoke no English. He found work in a shoe factory in Philadelphia.

Hundreds of inventors and thousands of dollars had been spent in an effort to make a complete shoe by machinery. Machines where able to perform all but the final step, that of shaping the upper leather over the last and attaching this leather to the bottom of the shoe. Workers called "Hand-lasters" performed this this final step by hand. Hand lasters where very highly paid, however no matter how fast the other portions of the show were completed, the best hand laster could only complete 50 pairs per day.

Matzliger heard it said many times that it was impossible to last shoes by machines; the job simply could not be done. In secret he started experimenting, first with a crude wooden machine, then with a model made out of scrap iron. For ten years he worked, steadily and patiently, with no encouragement.

Finally in 1882, Matzelinger felt he had perfected his machine to solve the impossible problem.

Learn More.