Thank You Garrett Morgan

As an Uber driver over the last almost seven years I have made a habit of showing appreciation and celebrating the lives of my passengers.  This post is to show appreciation and celebrate the life of Garrett Morgan who referred to himself as, "The Black Edison." I had never heard of him until I read an article about him recently-I am probably not the only one.

From Cleveland, Ohio, Garrett Morgan had a number of inventions before the two he is most known for.  He was very handy and could fix anything and started fixing sewing machines. Then, he invented a belt fastener for sewing machines and then a zigzag attachment for sewing machines. He eventually owned a sewing machine shop and then a ladies clothing store with his wife.

He then got his first patent in 1912 for hair care products and then for a hair straightening cream.  He then patented something very different, a breathing mask that wound up being used in World War 1 and by firefighters.  It was a smoke hood that enabled you to breathe. To demonstrate the device he and brother actually saved some lives during a local disaster.

After seeing a collision between a horse-drawn carriage and a car, he came up with the very beginnings of a yellow signal on a traffic light.  In those days there were only two signals, red to stop and green to go. His third position was for an all-stop position which enabled passengers to cross and set-up an order for other vehicles or horses to go. He sold his invention to General Electric for $40,000 in the 1920's, which today would be worth over $700,000.

In his old age, his final patent was for a self-extinguishing cigarette that had a water-filled plastic pellet placed just before the filter.  He passed away in 1963 at the age of 86 and has received recognition and a number of awards over the last sixty years.

So, the next time you have a yellow light, you could say, "Thank you Garrett Morgan," as you go through it.