November 1887

Granville T. Woods patents the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph (U.S. Patent 373,915), enabling communication between moving trains and stations for the first time. The patent prevented countless railroad accidents. Woods, called 'the Black Edison,' held over 60 patents in electricity and also sold patents to Edison and American Bell Telephone Company.

Cincinnati-based inventor Granville Woods patented a system allowing communication between moving trains and stations, dramatically improving railway safety by preventing collisions. He won patent disputes against Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell and held over 50 patents, earning him the title 'the Black Edison.'