Current Events –
Black History Month: Black Inventions

February is Black History Month and a chance to learn about and celebrate the advances of blacks throughout history. So, let’s find out exactly how much you know about black history.

Current Events
We all know that Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States. However, did you know that a black man by the name of Henry Brown invented the telegraph in 1886? Did you know that American physicist Dr. Shirley Jackson, a black woman, is responsible for such technology as the touch-tone telephone, the portable fax, caller ID, call waiting and the fiber-optic cable? Were you aware that Gerald A. Lawson invented the modern-day gaming console, or that George Crum invented the potato chip? Well, both were black men.

Let’s not forget George Washington Carver, who is responsible for developing hundreds of products, including peanuts, sweet potatoes, pecans, soybeans, a rubber substitute, adhesives, foodstuffs, dyes, and many others. Let’s also not forget Elijah McCoy, whose inventions (including the steam engine lubricator) were of such high quality, that he is the man we’re referring to when we say something is “the REAL McCoy.”

Here are a few more innovators of black history:

Dr. Charles Richard Drew – Inventor of the blood bank.
Marie Van Brittan Brown – Inventor of closed-circuit television.
Phillip B. Downing – Inventor of the street corner mailbox.
Dr. Patricia Bath – Inventor of the device used to remove cataracts.
Garret Augustus Morgan – Inventor of the gas mask and the traffic signal.
Madam C.J. Walker – Inventor of a host of cosmetic products still used today.
George E. Alcorn – Inventor of the X-Ray machine.

In honor of Black History Month, OK WASSUP! salutes those who have not only made their mark on black history, but on ALL of history.

THANK GOD IT’S
BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

OK WASSUP! covers current events.  Today’s article:
Celebrating black inventors during Black History Month