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Scientist and inventor Dasia Taylor was born on April 6, 2004, in Chicago, Illinois. Taylor graduated from Iowa City West High School in Iowa City, Iowa, in 2021.
In 2019, at age fifteen, Taylor conducted an experiment with beets. She discovered that dye from beets applied to surgical sutures would change color at a perfect pH point, revealing if a wound was healing properly. When healing correctly, the suture thread (containing beet juice) would change from bright red to dark purple. Cesarean infections were of particular concern for Taylor. In some African nations, as much as 20 percent of women giving birth by c-section experience surgical site infections.
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Steve Henson (1918-2007) created ranch dressing to compliment the dishes he was serving to his work crews while working as a plumber in Alaska. Upon retirement, Henson and his wife Gayle bought the large 120-acre Sweet Water Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, in 1954. They soon changed the name to Hidden Valley Ranch. Henson brought his recipe, now called “ranch dressing,” to California.
He would serve the tangy blend for guests visiting his ranch. They loved it and often requested bottles to take home. He introduced the recipe to some local businesses near his farm, and it literally flew off the shelves. Soon, Henson sent packets of the dressing around the country, launching a thriving mail-order business. Thus, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing was born! The original seasoning packet required customers to add buttermilk and mayonnaise.
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Black inventor Otis F. Boykin was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas. His mother died before his first birthday. His father was employed as a carpenter and later became a minister. Boykin graduated from Fisk University in 1941. While in college, he worked as a laboratory assistant at an aerospace laboratory, testing automatic aircraft controls. Following graduation from Fisk, Boykin was employed as a lab assistant for Majestic Radio and TV Corporation in Chicago, Illinois, and eventually became a supervisor there. In 1944, he began employment with the P.J. Nilsen Research Laboratory. Boykin began graduate studies in 1944 but quickly dropped out because he could not afford the tuition. In 1946, Boykin briefly led his own company, Boykin-Fruth, Inc., where he began developing various inventions.
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On February 20, 1900, Black inventor John F. Pickering (1892-1940) of Gonaives, Haiti, was granted a patent for the “Air Ship. ” (Patent 643,975). Pickering was not the original inventor of the blimp but made some significant improvements to the original design. The first blimp was invented by Henry Giffard in 1852. Pickering’s design was the first blimp with directional controls. It was also powered by an electric motor. In modern times blimps were used for research, tourism, surveying, advertising, freight transportation, camera platforms for sporting events, aerial observation, and military defense. Not much is known about his life.
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In 1880 Black inventor Powell Johnson patented “eye protectors.” Johnson designed the eyewear for various professions, including furnacemen, ironworkers, firefighters, and other workers exposed to glare and bright lights. The eye protectors had two frames with cloth disks inserted to shield the eyes from bright light. This type of design was the first of its kind. Johnson’s design improved upon previous inventions and helped pave the way for modern protective eyewear.
Little is known about Johnson’s life. He is credited with developing the first known functional safety-related eyewear.
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African American scientist Dennis Weatherby is responsible for the Cascade dish detergent chemical formula. He was born in Brighton, Alabama, on December 4, 1959. Weatherby developed a love for science as a child. Following high school he attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, on a football scholarship. He graduated with a bachelor of arts in chemistry in 1982.
Following graduation, Weatherby was employed by Proctor and Gamble as a process engineer. Within two years, he led a consumer products team focusing on developing a new detergent. Previous detergents stained both dishes and dishwashers. Weatherby and a co-developer Brian J. Roselle developed a dish solution with a lemon-yellow pigment that did not stain dishes. Weatherby patented the “automatic dishwasher detergent composition” formula on December 22, 1987. He was 27 years old. The formula is still used for all lemon-scented cleaning products containing bleach.
Weatherby left Protocor and Gamble and was briefly employed by The Whittaker Corporation. He then returned to his alma mater, Central State Univesity, in 1989 as a faculty member, advisor, recruiter, and counselor. He then joined the faculty of Auburn University in 1996 to launch the school’s new minority engineering program. After leaving Auburn, he was employed by the Univesity of Notre Dame in 2004, serving as an associate dean in the graduate school. He then accepted a position at Northern Kentucky University in 2006 as Associate Provost.
Weatherby experienced chronic high blood pressure throughout his life. In August 2007, he was recovering at home after a period of illness related when he hit his foot and developed a blood clot that traveled to his brain. Weatherby died on September 15, 2007. He was 47 years old, leaving behind a wife, four daughters, and two sons.
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In 1889 the Black inventor, William H. Richardson, patented a new type of baby carriage. William Kent invented the first baby carriage in England in 1733. The carriage was accented with gold and silver and designed to be pulled by a miniature pony. Due to the expense of early strollers, they were inaccessible to most working-class families. Working-class families did have them had carriages made out of cheaper materials like wood or wicker.
Garrett Morgan (1877-1963) was a prolific inventor and businessman. His inventions of the gas mask and traffic signal are still having an impact even today. The invention that led the way and financed these inventions was hair straightening cream accidentally invented by Morgan. His hair straightening cream made hair less curly and easier to straighten. His accidental discovery of a chemical straightening cream occurred when Morgan observed fabric straightened by a liquid compound. He turned the liquid into cream and launched the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company. Morgan also invented a black oil hair dye and a curved tooth comb hair straightener in 1910. His inventions were wildly successful and he used the proceeds to finance his other projects including the gas mask, traffic signal, and a self-extinguishing cigarette.
Born in 1877, Morgan only completed elementary school education. He was the 7th of 11 children. Morgan moved to Cleveland Ohio as a teenager to look for work. He began his career as a mechanic; working on sewing machines. He would later patent an improved version of a sewing machine and opened his own repair shop. His sewing machine repair business was successful. During this time he also married a Bavarian woman, Mary Anne Hasssek. The couple had 3 sons.
It was his patented sewing machine that unexpectedly led to the invention of his hair refining cream. In 1909, he was working on a sewing machine and working with wool fabric, he experimented a chemical solution applied to his sewing needles to reduce friction and prevent scorching of the fabrics by the needle. Morgan noticed that the solution had a smoothing effect on the fabrics. He tested the solution out on a dog and then tried it on himself. He then launched the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company. He sold the straightening cream to black customers and used the proceeds to finance other inventions.
In 1914 was when Morgan patented the “safety hood” (gas mask) which facilitated safe breathing. He worked diligently to market the device; even hiring a white man to act as the inventor; after he realized that people weren’t buying his invention because he was black. Morgan would later go on to invent the traffic signal in 1923. He later sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000. He began developing glaucoma in 1943; losing most of his vision as a result. Morgan died in 1963.
Thomas W. Stewart (1823 – 1890) was born in Kalamazoo, MI. He is perhaps, best known for making design improvements to the mop. In 1893, Stewart invented a new mop that had a clamp and springs which allowed the user to press a lever that would wring out the excess water in the mop. He also designed the mop head to be detachable, making it easier to clean and replace.
Stewart also received a patent in 1883 for a station and street indicator. Prior to his invention, there were only street signs that were used to provide warnings at train crossings. Stewart’s invention worked by activating a lever that was built into the train tracks that indicated a train was coming.
Stewart also invented a metal binding machine in 1893. The machine also had the capability of oscillating; making the process of bending steel safer and more efficient.
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