Norbert Rillieux's Sugar Refining Process Transforms the Global Sugar Industry

Norbert Rillieux, a free Black Creole engineer from New Orleans, had patented his multiple-effect evaporator in 1843, revolutionizing sugar refining worldwide and eliminating dangerous, labor-intensive open-kettle processes. In the Gilded Age, his process was standard in every major sugar-producing nation. Rillieux spent his later years in Paris, where he deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics and won French agricultural prizes.