Inventions that changed the world!
Garrett Augustus Morgan, the son of former slaves, was born in Reconstruction Era Kentucky (1877) where he spent his foremost years working on his parent’s farm and only received an elementary school education. As a teenager, Morgan moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to look for work. He eventually made his way into the textile industry, learning the inner workings of sewing machines and how to fix them. He eventually obtained a patent for an improved sewing machine and opened his own successful business.
Morgan was always interested in inventions. In addition to his personally designed sewing machines and grooming products, he also patented the first traffic signal in the United States. His traffic signal was mounted on a T-shaped pole and had three different signals: stop, go, and all stop. The “all stop” signal was to allow pedestrians to cross the street safely. He eventually patented this device in Canada and Great Britain and sold it to General Electric Company for $40,000.
Morgan’s Safety Hood
Morgan’s biggest venture was his safety hood. In 1914, Morgan patented a breathing device, providing its wearers with a safer breathing experience in the presence of smoke, gases, and other pollutants. He worked hard to market the device, especially to fire departments, as he had personally seen firefighters struggling to withstand the suffocating smoke they encountered in the line of duty.
His device consisted of a canvas hood with two tubes. Part of the device held on the back filtered smoke outward, while cooling the air inside. The invention earned him the first prize at the 2nd International Exposition of Safety and Sanitation in New Work City in 1914. His device eventually gained great renown after he personally used it to save 8 mine workers from a natural gas explosion and collapse 120 feet beneath Lake Erie on July 24, 1916. Morgan’s breathing device became the prototype and precursor for the gas masks used during World War I, protecting soldiers from toxic gas used in warfare.
Before his death in 1963, Morgan saved countless lives worldwide, including those of firefighters, soldiers, and vehicle operators, with his profound inventions.
