Inventions By All People of African Descent: Amid Hatred, Denigration, Insults and Inconceivable Oppression
(Also known as Black Inventions)
This list of inventions by people of African descent in this country was gathered several months ago and without a lot of research.
Black people as a whole usually did not have the luxury of having their inventions patented in their names - recognition and credit for their creations stolen by the enslavers.
We can assume there were many Black women inventors whose creations were taken and credited to White men and women, and also to Black men. Some certainly gladly offered their inventions as a family offering in their man's name in that time, but that sadly keeps us from knowng the uplifting truth and extent of their contribution.
Document everything.
The following and other inventions found to be by women, will be noted or added.
Because such evidence was not collected, we also have no sense of how many of these inventions were imagined and brought to life by Black Same Gender Loving folk, but we know their contributions are in there somewhere and standing tall even in anonymity.
That all said, this is a very short list that doesn't tell the whole story, but is still a sight to behold.
Much of the creative genius you find here and at other spaces online was borne amid hatred, denigration and insults such as with this image to your left, inconceivable oppression and the deadliest of conditions.
A people who can imagine and create under such prolonged terrorist conditions - enslavement and post slavery hostilities may "inherit the earth."
The moral of the story: Think of something, imagine it, dream it, plan it, and make it so.
There may be some repetition here, and if so, do not hesitate to point it out or write to shine a light on other inventions here at info@terryhowcott.com.
(Also, don't forget some of our brilliant and creative elders have been proven incredible inventors - so consider using your retirement to create).
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Hame Attachments Part for a draft horses' collar.
Method for performing amplification of nucleic acid with two primers bound to a single solid support
Propelling means for airplanes and ships
Cotton picking apparatus
Method for forming dense dry etched multi-level metallurgy with non-overlapped
Hardened photoresist master image mask process
GaAs Schottky barrier photo-responsive device and method of fabrication
====================
Method of fabricating an Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer
Corn planter check rower
Mechanical Corn Harvester (may be the same item)
Mechanical Seed Planter (1834)
System for enhancing fine detail in thermal photographs
Self-Leveling Table
Cell Phone
Eye Protector
====================
Low cost telemeter for monitoring a battery and DC voltage converter power supply
Baby Buggy
Electric Cut-Off Switch
Clothes Line Support
Remote control apparatus
Pattern generator for simulating image generation
Package-tie
Vertical coin counting tube
Toilet (Chamber Commode)
Undergarment with a pocket for releasably securing an absorbent pad
Fireplace Damper (Virgie Ammons)
Actuating Tool
Process for Preparing Coconut
Biscuit Cutter
Laser Fuels
Process of Treating Coconut
Refining Coconut Oil
Doorknob
Semiconductor devices based on optical transitions between quasibound energy levels
Combined Truss and Bandage
Folding Bed (Sara E. Goode)
Shampoo Headrest
Horse Brittle Bit
Pacemaker
NOTE:
What a delight to hear from inventor extraordinaire Valerie L. Thomas who was gracious to provide a more correct description of her incredible work.
The truth is, Valerie Thomas borrowed "The Boy's First Book on Electronics" from the library, hoping that her father would help her build some of the electronic projects. However that did not happen.
She was the inventor of the Illusion Transmitter, which is like a television system with the image formed in the air instead of on a flat screen. The three dimensional effect can be seen without special glasses.
She also designed computer programs for scientific satellites that studied Earth (space environment and resources) and managed projects that assisted in research related to a supermova explosion, Halley's comet, ozone hole studies and voyager satellite encounters.
And we are so proud of that.
Guide Missile
Lotion
Soap
Ladder Scaffold Support
Automatic Cashier
Insect Destroyer Gun
Railway Signal Apparatus
Cigarette Roller
Signal Apparatus High
Indicator for Bridges
Interliners to Prevent Tire Punctures
Combined Hat-rack and Table
Assembled Composition
Printing Process
Electric light bulb, Lewis Latimer who also drew the blueprints for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone in preparation for its patent (blackmiracles.com)
Farmers' Almanac
Hydraulic Jack
Typewriter
Release Valve
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Design for Signage
Sand Band for a Wagon
Rail and Tie Brace
Hot box cooler and oiler
Indicator or Bulletin
Automatic film mover - co-Invented with Berger Edmond.
Tie Plate for Railroad
Improvement on Tie Plate and Joint Brace
Pole, Post and Tree Protector
Process and apparatus for contactless measurement of sample temperature
Stacking device
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Postmarking and Mail-canceling machine
Mailbox
Stethoscope
Africans in Science - Ancient and Modern, Part 4 of 5
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima
Synthesization of Physostigmine, an Alcaloid used in the treatment of Glaucoma, Percy Julian
Stove
Home security system
utilizing televison surveillance
Horse Shoe
Spinable stringless top
Water Closets for Railway Cars
Sewer or other trap
Damper regulator
Protective device for automobiles
Signal generator
Head lamp rim
Breech-loading cannon
Direction coded digital stroke generator providing a plurality of symbols
Starter genderator
Cattle Roping apparatus
Lawn Mower
Switching Device for Railways
Type-writing machine
Emergency landing runway
First machine that could manufacture an entire boot or shoe
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Audible underwater signal
Drill mine
Watertight electrical connector
Train Alarm
Luggage Carrier Turner
Improvement in Holders for Reins for Horses
Apparatus for Detaching Horses from Carriages
Improvement in Neck Yokes for Wagons
Improvement in car couplings
Self Setting Animal Trap
Invalid Cot
Far-ultraviolet Camera and Spectrograph
Range oven
Secure cryptographic logic arrangement
Distributed pulse forming network for magnetic modulator
Umbrella Stand
Cosmetics & Plant Products
Paints & Stains
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Bedstead Extensions
Flying Machines
Angle Indicator
Carrier for Bicycles
Coit
Cotton planter and fertilizer distributer
Integrated utility/camper shell for a pick-up truck
Light Detection
Instrument
Alphabet (Hieroglyphics)
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, Part 5 of 5
Method of Detecting & Counting Bacteria
Attachment for shuttle arm - device used to capture satellites
Rapid, Quantitative Determination of Bacteria in Water
Velocipede
Street Car Fender
Pocketed Underwear (Brothella Quick)
First Researcher to prove that insects can hear and distinguish pitch
Techniques for Storing and Transfusing Blood Plasma
Footwear additive made from recycled materials
Lubricant for High Temperatures & High Speeds
Lubricants of Fluorocarbon Polyethers & Polyfluorophenylene Polymers
Fluorine-Containing Benzimidazoles
Perfluoroalkylether Substituted Phenyl Phosphines
Hand-power attachment for sewing machines
Baling press
Bale band tightener
Carpet beating machine
Trestle
Nut lock
Roller Coaster
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Protective metal shield for plastic fuze radomes
Overboot for horses
Method and system for attaching a pocket to a portion of a garment.
Locomotive headlight
Cap and collar case
Morticians table
Portable electric light
Bubble machine
Automatic fishing device
Harness attachment
Shoemakers jack
Elevator safety device
Process of reacting isocyanate and hydroxy compound in presence of tertiary amine and hydrogen peroxide
Two-stage phosgenation process for preparing aromatic isocyanates
======================
Process for isolating a fluorine-containing polymer
Separation of distillable isocyanates from their phosgenation masses
Shutter and fastening
Draft regulator
Rotary machine
Closed cycle energy conversion system
Automatic stop plug for gas and oil pipes
Vertical liquid electrode employed in electrolytic
cells
Capillary liquid fuel nuclear reactor
Presettable bistable circuits
Ice-cream mold and scoop
Lantern
Float Operated Circuit Closer (Madeline M. Turner)
Comb
Steam feed-water trap
Steam trap
Signaling device
Ore Bucket
Flag staff
Titanium base alloy
Grain refinement of beryllium with tungsten carbide and titanium diboride
Grain refinement of titanium alloys
Apparatus for returning water to boilers
Method and apparatus for setting thermostats
Differential vacuum pump
Steam trap
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Automatic discharge valve
Freezing temperature indicator
Refrigerating method and apparatus
Exhausting mechanism
Bucket trap
Refrigerating method and apparatus
Method of steam heating from central station mains
Refrigerating apparatus and process
Vacuum pump
Steam heating system
Steam heating apparatus
Vacuum heating system
Programmable Remote control
Proportional movement motor
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Method of heating
Effective temperature thermostat
Effective temperature control apparatus
Exhausting method and apparatus
One pipe heating system regulating plate
Regulating radiator valve
Float operated mechanism
Pedal Powered Hacksaw
Lemon Squeezer
Airborne moving-target indicating radar system
Process for the manufacturing of nitroform and its salts
Dodecanitroquaterphenyl
Recrystallization of hexanitrostilbene from nitric acid and water
Safety system for operating railroads
Ventilator
Paper-rewind mechanism for adding
Load weighing and totaling device for cranes, hoisting mechanism (Mary J. Reynolds)
Flexible walled wind tunnel nozzle
Riding saddle
Library table
Helicopter, Paul E. Williams
Game table
Improvements in computer architecture
Combined sleigh and boat
Motor control system for self-serving tables
Shoe sole with an adjustable support pattern
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Toothpaste containing pH-adjusted zeolite
Procedure entry for a data processor employing a stack
Life saving Trolley guards
Adjustable tracker for pneumatic playing attachments
Volume-controlling means for mechanical musical
instruments
Player-piano
Phonograph
Burning efficiency enhancement method
Car-coupling
Monolithic planar doped barrier subharmonic mixer
Absorbents for airborne formaldehyde
Composites of unsintered calcium phosphates and synthetic biodegradable polymers useful as hard tissue prosthetics
Door-holding device
Device for applying coloring liquids to sides of soles or heels of shoes
Machine for embossing photographs
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Photographic print washer
Hose leak stop
Self-binding harvester
Band-twister
Carrier chain
Gong and Signal Chair for Motels (Miriam E. Benjamin)
Reciprocating corner and baseboard cleaning auxiliary attachment for rotary floor treatment
machines
Street railway switch
Fruit Press (Madeline Turner)
Serving apparatus for dining rooms
Automatic serving system
Server for automatic serving systems Blood bank
Method for growing single oxide crystals "Duggerite"
Solid-state laser produced by a chemical reaction between a germinate and an oxide dopant
Aluminum nitride single crystal growth from a molten mixture with calcium nitride
Horse detacher
Toy pistol
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Non-capsizable container
Sweepstake programmer
Programmed association game
Random unit generator amusement device
Bidirectional monitoring and control system
Combined dining, ironing table, and quilting frame
Chamber commode
Refrigerating apparatus
Hyperball computer networks
Digital Toaster (A Sister, Ruane Jeter)
Transistorized gating circuit
Transistorized multivibrator circuit adapted to oscillate for only a predetermined time
=====================
Shock falsing inhibitor circuit for a plural tone receiver
Convertible settee and bed
Steam trap
Joiners clamp
Furniture casters
Guitar
Black People in Science and Invention
Refuse container
Cuff for trousers
Surgical appliance
Adjustable shackle
Ironing Board (Sarah Boone)
Method for treating hair
Hair treating
composition & method of use for setting
Ammonium polysiloxanolate hair treating composition and method for using same
Novel phosphonyl polymers
Flame retardant
Sun protectant composition and method
Cathode for a secondary electrochemical cell
Method of preparing electrodes with porous current collector structures and solid reactants for secondary electrochemical cells
Compartmented electrode structure
Quick disconnect valved coupling
Car park
Method and apparatus for high precision weighted random pattern generation
Ultraviolet and thermally stable polymer compositions
Electrogasdynamic coating system
======================
Improved acoustic image reproduction system using a piezoelectric printer and electrogasdynamics
Apparatus and method of capturing an orbiting spacecraft
Detachable car fender
Lawn mower attachment
Life Preserver
(note many inventions are imagined through personal need, but in this case White swimming instructors would often refuse to enter the swimming pools when Black people were swimming even to save Black lives. That said, this vision was surely directed by the need to survive.
Accurate weather forecasting, Phillip Emeagwali, 1990
Novel reductones and methods of making them
Emergency escape
apparatus and method of using same
Optical apparatus for indicating the position of a tool
Method of making radome with an integral
antenna
Air Ship ("The Blimp"), John F. Pickering
Combined excavator and elevator
Sublimination timing switch
=========================
Portable weighing scale
Emergency fire escape mechanism
Calendars, Solar, Lunar, Astrological
Sailing apparatus - including sails
Composition for cleaning and preserving carpets
Railroad crossing flag signal
Well drilling tool
Gas burner
The Pyramids
System of Higher Education (Timbuktu)
They Were Black
"And That's Why I Invented
This Rhyme"
Afro
Dreadlocs
Steam boiler
Portable highway warning device with frangible retainer ring
Burglar alarm switch
Kitchen table
Pneumatic tire
Railway switch
Integrated optical device having integral photodetector
Grass receiver for lawn mowers
Lawn mower attachment
=================
Automatic stopping and releasing device for mine cars
Wrench
Theft-preventing device for vehicles
Smoke Detecting Timer controlled thermostat
Automatic sprinkler control
Thermal energy accumulation
Soil moisture potential determination by weight measurement
Squirt gun
Hair drying curler apparatus
Pinch trigger hand pump water gun with non-detachable tank
Water arrow projecting bowLow pressure, high volume pressurized water gun
Toy airplane and launcher
Therapeutic lamps
Swinging chair
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Egg Beater
Ticket dispensing machine
Permanent Waving Machine (Majorie Joyner)
Design for air conditioning unit
Removable cooling units for compartments
Means for automatically stopping and starting gas engines
Two-cycle gas engine
Automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks
Design for air conditioning unit
Waveguide components
Reciprocal ferrite waveguide phase shifter having means to rotate the magnetic field about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ferrite rod
Thermostatic controlled hair curlers, combs and irons
Restraint system for vehicular
occupants (seatbelt?)
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Smokeless slow burning cast propellant
Manicuring device
Duplex capstan
Dresser
Cocktail Table
Combined clock and wall plaque
Mary Beatrice Kenner invented these three items
Sanitary belt
Moisture proof Napkin
Pocket
Ship propeller
Backwash Mounted on Shower Wall and Bathtup
Bathroom tissue holder
T-Top Roof Cover (Natalie Love)
Shower wall and bathtub mounted back washer
Combination cotton thinning and cultivating machine
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Terryhowcott.com
has made every effort to ascertain the origin of all photos, and is eager
to cite all work.
Please contact info@terryhowcott.com to
discuss citing or to propose photos for exhibition by sending them with photographer/artist's
name, image title, and/or web address.
