Charles B. Brooks was an American inventor, who is best known for his patented improvements to the street sweeper in 1896. Very little is known about his early life beyond the fact that he was born in Virginia in 1865. By the 1890s Brooks was living in Newark, New … Read MoreCharles B. Brooks (1865-?)
André Pinto Rebouças was a Brazilian engineer and abolitionist, best known for creating one of the world’s first self-propelled torpedoes during the Paraguayan War. Rebouças was born on January 13, 1838 in Cachoeira, Brazil. The son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças, a prominent lawyer and politician and an unidentified black … Read MoreAndré Rebouças (1838-1898)
Marjorie Stewart Joyner was the inventor of the Permanent Wave Machine thus ensuring her a prominent place in cosmetology history. She helped write the first cosmetology laws for Illinois and founded the United Beauty School Owners and Teachers Association with Mary Bethune McLeod in 1945. Joyner was also active in the African American … Read MoreMarjorie Stewart Joyner (1896-1994)
Charles Ward Chappelle was an American engineer and businessman best known for his award-winning long-distance airplane in 1911 and his tenure as president of the African Union Company from 1913 to 1930. In January of 1911, Chappelle presented at the First Industrial Aero Show, a showcase of aircraft and … Read MoreCharles Chappelle (1872-1941)
Richard Bowie Spikes was a prolific inventor with eight patents to his name, awarded between 1907 and 1946. Primarily interested in automobile mechanics, Spikes also sought to improve the operation of items as varied as barber chairs and trolley cars. Professionally, he worked as a mechanic, … Read MoreRichard Spikes (1878-1965)
An inventor, abolitionist, and trained medical professional, Dr. Thomas Elkins played a significant role in supporting the Underground Railroad in Albany, New York during the 1840s and 1850s. He also made an important contribution to the development of refrigeration techniques, and patented several inventions for other household furniture items during the latter … Read MoreThomas Elkins (1818-1900)
In 1978 David Wabeladio Payi created a writing system he dubbed “Mandombe.” He ascertained that the script was revealed to him in a dream where he saw two figures formed by mortar joints on his wall. The mirror figures he saw on the joints looked … Read MoreDavid Wabeladio Payi (1957-2013)
Yapi N’Cho Blaise Didier of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), often referred to as Didier Yapi, was a prolific information technology (IT) inventor/ researcher in Africa from about 1998 until his death in 2015. Yapi was born in 1976, in the Gôh Djiboua Region (Gagnoa) in … Read MoreDidier Yapi (1976-2015)
The inventor Otis Frank Boykin, known for inventing the wire precision resistor, was born on August 29, 1920 in Dallas, Texas. Boykin’s mother, Sarah Boykin, worked as a maid before dying in 1921 before Boykin’s first birthday. Boykin’s father, Walter Boykin, worked as a carpenter … Read MoreOtis Frank Boykin (1920-1982)
Henry Binga Dismond, a star athlete, medical device inventor, pioneering physician and poet, was born on December 27, 1891, in Richmond, Virginia to Dr. Samuel H. Dismond and Jessie Cornelia Binga. Henry attended Richmond public schools, Virginia Union University, and Howard University, where he graduated … Read MoreHenry Binga Dismond (1891-1956)
