733 - Celebrating Black History Month

Today I celebrate @Garrett Morgan, an inventor and the first black man in Cleveland, Ohio to own a car!

First, Lester Farnsworth Wire, a white man, is known for having invented the first electric traffic light. His invention had two lights, red and green.

@Garrett Morgan invented the 3-way traffic light that we know today, using green, yellow, and red, after witnessing an accident caused because the light change was too quick.

Adding the yellow light made the transition for vehicles safer.

Here are some more interesting facts about Morgan Garrett, brought to us by Wikipedia:

Garrett Morgan also invented the precursor to the gas mask. It was a safety hood smoke protection device he devised after seeing firefighters struggling to withstand the suffocating smoke they encountered in the line of duty.

He filed for a patent on the device in 1912 and founded a company called the National Safety Device Company in 1914 to market it.

Mr. Morgan was able to sell his invention around the country, sometimes using the tactic of having a hired white actor take credit rather than revealing himself as its inventor.

We have so much to learn to get a full look at our history.

These early pioneers in business helped pave the way for us all today.