Revolutionary inventions for a greener tomorrow

Inventor Lonnie Johnson of NASA and Supersoaker fame is on a clean energy mission.  Check out his video where he shows off two inventions that could change the world

Black Inventors Part 6

If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of the term “the Real McCoy” then you are not alone.  I’ve often asked people who is McCoy and how long have people being using this phrase?  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the phrase is in reference a famous African American inventor named Elijah McCoy.  Mr. McCoy was born in Canada where his parents, former slaves in Kentucky; escaped to via the Underground Railroad.  Mr. McCoy’s innate mechanical ability manifested itself throughout his child.  Realizing their son’s potential, Mr. McCoy’s parents saved up enough money to send their soon to school in Scotland to study mechanical engineering.

Upon finishing his studies and earning a degree in engineering/mechanics Mr. McCoy returned to the United States settling in Michigan.  The situation for African Americans in the US had changed since the days of his parents in part due to the emancipation proclamation, however; Mr. McCoy still found it increasingly difficult to get a job commensurate with his education.  Instead of becoming an engineer, hiring managers at Michigan Central Railroad felt a “negro” was better suited to be a train oilman.  As a train oilman his job was to lubricate the parts necessary to keep a steam engine going.  The problem being that the hot pressured steam was corrosive to the metal parts and needed to be constantly lubricated.  Mr. McCoy saw this as an opportunity and in 1872 patented his 1^st device, a self-regulating lubricator that made use of the steam pressure in the cylinders to control the valve.  A decade later Mr. McCoy’s device was wildly successful and as cheaper knock-offs begin to hit the market people who wanted quality would ask whether or not the lubrication system was in fact the “Real McCoy”.  Unfortunately, steam engines were replaced by newer technologies which have overshadowed Mr. McCoy’s contributions, however; the tagline “Real McCoy” endures.

Source:  http://www.usi.edu/science/engineering/MISC/emccoy/emccoy.htm

Black Inventors Part 4

Before Oprah became one of the first African American billionaires, Madam C.J. Walker turned a “dream” into a million dollar business venture.  Sarah Breedlove aka Madam C.J. Walker was born in Louisiana in 1867.  After being widowed in 1887 as a result of a mob lynching, Madam C.J. Walker and her daughter moved to Missouri.  While in Missouri the stress of working multiple jobs to make a loving was taking its toll on Madam Walker, in particular she was experiencing hair loss at an alarming rate.  According to legend, one night Sarah had the following vision” “big Black man appeared to me and told me what to mix up for my hair. Some of the remedy was grown in Africa, but I sent for it, put it on my scalp, and in a few weeks my hair was coming in faster than it had ever fallen out.”  After trying out the homemade brew on herself and then her friends, Madam Walker decided to quit her jobs and start her own business.

In 1906 she married C.J. Walker and between his marketing skills and Madam Walker’s hair products a new business, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company; was formed to mass produce these products.  Word spread throughout the black community like wildfire and by 1917 Madam Walker had the largest African-American business in the US.  Her accomplishments are numerous as she saw her wealth not as a means to an end, but instead as a way to provide for other African Americans and in particular a way to promote fellow female African American entrepreneurs.

Quick facts:

• Guinness Book of World Records listed her as the 1st Female Millionaire whose money was earned by her own achievements.
• Opened her own college to train sales workforce
  • Sales force was in excess of 1000 agents
  • Sales force earned on average $5 to $15 dollars/day
• 2/3 of her fortune went to philanthropy upon her death
• In 1992 she was enshrined into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame
• Commemorated with a USPS stamp in 1998 as part of the Black Heritage Series
• Built an estate (Villa Lewaro) next to fellow giants of the time including John Rockefeller and Jay Gould.
  • Gave the task of designing Villa Lewaro to Vertner Tandy whom was the 1^st registered African American Architect of New York.

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_C._J._Walker & http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/cj-walker.html

Black Inventors Part 3

As the Saints celebrate their Superbowl victory today in New Orleans I thought it appropriate to highlight George Crum.  Some may ask, who dat?  Well, George Crum is credited with the invention of the potato chips.  I’m sure if you were at a Superbowl party like me, there were bowls of chip and dip.

The story goes that George Crum was the head chief at Moon’s Lake House Resort in NY and a hard to please customer constantly complained that Mr. Crum cut his french fries to think.  Well, the time this patron came in, Mr. Crum purposely cut the french fries to thin and we he served them the patrons commented on the crispness of the resulting french fries.  The popularity of the new french fired potato chips ultimately allowed Mr. Crum to quit his job and open his own restaurant.  Thank goodness for rude customers!

Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Crum & http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/george-crum.html

Black Inventors part 2

The second inventor of our series is Andrew Jackson Beard.  Beard was born, and up until age 15, was  a slave in Alabama in 1849.  Over the years he patented a series of inventions: in 1881, he patented a plow.  A second plow was patented in 1887, and in 1892 it was a rotary engine. (more…)