Let us start by killing the viral claim, because the truth is better: Lewis Latimer did NOT invent the light bulb. What he did was arguably more useful — he made the bulb’s heart manufacturable, so electric light could become cheap and reliable enough for every home in America. Lewis Latimer was born on September
The best skilled hand workers could finish about 50 pairs of shoes a day. Jan Matzeliger’s machine could produce up to 700. He solved the one step of shoemaking everyone said could never be mechanized — and the price of a pair of shoes fell by roughly half. Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on September
His Machine Made 700 Pairs of Shoes a Day — and Cut the Price of a Pair of Shoes in Half Read More »
She was 44 years old before anyone told her she had the legal right to vote. Two years later, her testimony was so powerful that a President of the United States staged a press conference just to pull the television cameras away from her. Her name was Fannie Lou Hamer. Fannie Lou Hamer was born
This week, families are packing cars and hitting the road to get to the people they love. There was a time when that same trip, for a Black family, could end at a “Whites Only” sign with nowhere safe to stop. A Harlem mailman printed the book that got them there safe. Victor Hugo Green
Thomas Edison sued him twice, claiming his invention belonged to Edison. Edison lost both times. Then Edison offered him a job — and Granville Woods said no. That is how good this man was, and how determined he was to stay his own man. Granville T. Woods was born on April 23, 1856, in Columbus,