Black History Month: Did you know ... ?

Granville T. Woods held various engineering and industrial jobs before establishing a company to develop electrical apparatus. Known as "The Black Edison," he registered nearly 60 patents in his lifetime, including a telephone transmitter, a trolley wheel and the multiplex telegraph (over which he defeated a lawsuit by Thomas Edison). 

Garrett Morgan was an inventor and businessman from Cleveland who is best known for inventing a device called the Morgan’s gas mask  in 1914 and the traffic signal in 1923. 

Thomas Elkins designed a device that helped with the task of preserving perishable foods by way of refrigeration. Elkins patented this refrigerated apparatus on November 4, 1879. and had previously patented a chamber commode in 1872 and a dining, ironing table and quilting frame combined in 1870.

Guion "Guy" Bluford was the first African-American in Space. Guy's first mission was STS-8 aboard the space shuttle Challenger, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 30, 1983. This was Challenger’s third flight but the first mission with a night launch and night landing. It was also the eighth flight of any space shuttle, making it still very much a test flight for the program. With that flight, Guy became the country's first African-American astronaut. His primary role on the trips to space was as a mission specialist, working on satellite deployment, science and classified military experiments and payloads, and taking part in other aspects of the flights.

Black History Month began as "Negro History Week," and was first celebrated in 1926. Later evolving into "Black History Month," it was the brainchild of Dr. Carter Woodson. Until that time, very little emphasis was placed on the study of African-American history.