Also American

Person · 1877–1963

Garrett Morgan

The self-taught inventor of an early traffic signal and a life-saving smoke hood.

An inventor of [[black-science]].

The son of formerly enslaved parents, Garrett Morgan built a successful business and a string of inventions, including a breathing device that he used to rescue trapped workers in a 1916 tunnel explosion and a three-position traffic signal he patented in 1923.

On the timeline

  1. November 20, 1923
    Garrett Morgan patents the traffic signal

    Self-taught inventor Garrett Morgan patents a three-position traffic signal — after earlier inventing a smoke hood that saved lives in a 1916 tunnel disaster.

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