Post by Djedi Maaur on Feb 19, 2008 6:15:46 GMT -5
Most people hearing the name Garrett Morgan can associate it with he being the man who invented the traffic light – but his work goes far beyond that. He also designed the first gas mask for use by firefighters, too.
Garrett Augustus Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky. He was the seventh of eleven children, and he spent his childhood working on their farm and attending elementary school.
At the age of 14 Garrett Morgan moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and hired a tutor so he could continue his English grammar studies. Garrett moved again in 1895, this time to Cleveland, Ohio and went to work for a clothing manufacturer as a repairman for the sewing machines. He did such a good job that news of his proficiency and experimentation spread quickly around town, and many job offers came pouring in.
In 1909, he had already opened his own tailoring shop when he came upon an interesting situation that led to the first of his famous inventions. Garrett noticed that the needles moved so fast through the wool fabrics, that the friction often caused them to scorch the fabric. He decided to try to come up with a liquid to polish the needles and reduce the friction. One day, when his wife called him for dinner, he wiped the liquid from his hands onto a pony-fur cloth to clean them. When he returned after dinner, he noticed that the fibers were standing up straight now. He thought that the liquid must have straightened them. He decided to test this theory by applying the liquid to the fur of his neighbor's dog, which was an Airedale.
The liquid was so successful at straightening the dog's hair that the owner didn't even recognize his own dog, and tried to chase it away! The next step was for Garrett Morgan to try the liquid on his own hair, which he did with great success. He had just invented the first human hair straightener, and he began to market it as the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream. These kinds of hair products are still popular today.
The next invention of Garrett Morgan took place in 1912. He called it the Safety Hood and patented it as a breathing device, but it was commonly known as the gas mask. This Safety Hood was specifically meant to assist Firefighters so that they could breathe longer in thick, suffocating gases and smoke, and allow them to do their jobs more efficiently and safely. Garrett Morgan set up the National Safety Device Company to manufacture and sell the Safety Hood, and they did several exhibitions all over the country and won some prizes. That helped business, but a real-life application is what really put it on the map.
On July 24, 1916 Garrett Morgan was relaxing at home when someone called on him and asked him to help. An explosion in a tunnel that was being dug under Lake Erie had trapped 32 workers underground with dust, smoke and poisonous gases. Nobody wanted to go in after them, because there was no way to breathe long enough to rescue them and get back out. In one of the more exciting stories in the biography of Garrett Morgan, Garrett and his brother Frank arrived with their Safety hoods, put them on, and entered the tunnel. Eventually, they returned with a survivor on each of their backs. Applause erupted from the bystanders, and two other men put on Safety Hoods and joined Garrett and Frank as they went back in again. While they were not able to save all of the trapped workers, they did save many who certainly would have died without Garrett Morgan and his Safety Hood.
Orders began pouring in from all over the country from Police and Fire departments who recognized the benefit of this amazing invention. Several orders were later canceled when some customers realized that Garrett Morgan was an African American inventor, but there were many others including the U.S. Army, who bought and utilized the Safety Hood.
In the midst of the biography of Garrett Morgan, Henry Ford invented the Automobile. In 1903 the Ford Motor Company was founded, and soon afterward, many Americans were speeding down the roadways along with the horse drawn carriages, bicycles and pedestrians. It didn't take long to realize that the increased traffic, along with the wide variety in traveling speeds was a problem. The most obvious problem was at the intersections. Many times a police officer would work the busiest intersections to direct and control traffic flow for maximum safety and efficiency, but many intersections were unmanned. It was after Morgan witnessed a particularly bad accident at an intersection that he decided to do something about it.
Garrett designed an automatic system for controlling traffic flow at intersections, patented it, and became known as the traffic light inventor.
The biography of Garrett Morgan shows that he continued to work for the improvement of man and was politically active throughout his life. He died on July 27, 1963, but he will always be remembered for his contributions to society.
Posted by yardFlex at February 18, 2008 09:34 AM
Garrett Augustus Morgan was born on March 4, 1877 in Paris, Kentucky. He was the seventh of eleven children, and he spent his childhood working on their farm and attending elementary school.
At the age of 14 Garrett Morgan moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and hired a tutor so he could continue his English grammar studies. Garrett moved again in 1895, this time to Cleveland, Ohio and went to work for a clothing manufacturer as a repairman for the sewing machines. He did such a good job that news of his proficiency and experimentation spread quickly around town, and many job offers came pouring in.
In 1909, he had already opened his own tailoring shop when he came upon an interesting situation that led to the first of his famous inventions. Garrett noticed that the needles moved so fast through the wool fabrics, that the friction often caused them to scorch the fabric. He decided to try to come up with a liquid to polish the needles and reduce the friction. One day, when his wife called him for dinner, he wiped the liquid from his hands onto a pony-fur cloth to clean them. When he returned after dinner, he noticed that the fibers were standing up straight now. He thought that the liquid must have straightened them. He decided to test this theory by applying the liquid to the fur of his neighbor's dog, which was an Airedale.
The liquid was so successful at straightening the dog's hair that the owner didn't even recognize his own dog, and tried to chase it away! The next step was for Garrett Morgan to try the liquid on his own hair, which he did with great success. He had just invented the first human hair straightener, and he began to market it as the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Cream. These kinds of hair products are still popular today.
The next invention of Garrett Morgan took place in 1912. He called it the Safety Hood and patented it as a breathing device, but it was commonly known as the gas mask. This Safety Hood was specifically meant to assist Firefighters so that they could breathe longer in thick, suffocating gases and smoke, and allow them to do their jobs more efficiently and safely. Garrett Morgan set up the National Safety Device Company to manufacture and sell the Safety Hood, and they did several exhibitions all over the country and won some prizes. That helped business, but a real-life application is what really put it on the map.
On July 24, 1916 Garrett Morgan was relaxing at home when someone called on him and asked him to help. An explosion in a tunnel that was being dug under Lake Erie had trapped 32 workers underground with dust, smoke and poisonous gases. Nobody wanted to go in after them, because there was no way to breathe long enough to rescue them and get back out. In one of the more exciting stories in the biography of Garrett Morgan, Garrett and his brother Frank arrived with their Safety hoods, put them on, and entered the tunnel. Eventually, they returned with a survivor on each of their backs. Applause erupted from the bystanders, and two other men put on Safety Hoods and joined Garrett and Frank as they went back in again. While they were not able to save all of the trapped workers, they did save many who certainly would have died without Garrett Morgan and his Safety Hood.
Orders began pouring in from all over the country from Police and Fire departments who recognized the benefit of this amazing invention. Several orders were later canceled when some customers realized that Garrett Morgan was an African American inventor, but there were many others including the U.S. Army, who bought and utilized the Safety Hood.
In the midst of the biography of Garrett Morgan, Henry Ford invented the Automobile. In 1903 the Ford Motor Company was founded, and soon afterward, many Americans were speeding down the roadways along with the horse drawn carriages, bicycles and pedestrians. It didn't take long to realize that the increased traffic, along with the wide variety in traveling speeds was a problem. The most obvious problem was at the intersections. Many times a police officer would work the busiest intersections to direct and control traffic flow for maximum safety and efficiency, but many intersections were unmanned. It was after Morgan witnessed a particularly bad accident at an intersection that he decided to do something about it.
Garrett designed an automatic system for controlling traffic flow at intersections, patented it, and became known as the traffic light inventor.
The biography of Garrett Morgan shows that he continued to work for the improvement of man and was politically active throughout his life. He died on July 27, 1963, but he will always be remembered for his contributions to society.
Posted by yardFlex at February 18, 2008 09:34 AM