African Pride
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I also take pride that Europeans weren't able to fully colonize and cause chaos in most of Africa until the 1880s, while Europeans did the same in the Americas as early as the 1400s. That shows how strong we were.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Africa
Between 1878 and 1898, European states partitioned and conquered most of Africa. For 400 years, European nations had mainly limited their involvement to trading stations on the African coast. Few dared venture inland from the coast; those that did, like the Portuguese, often met defeats and had to retreat to the coast. -
Dr. Philip Emeagwali
Inventor of the World's Fastest Computer
Dr. Philip Emeagwali
Dr. Philip Emeagwali, who has been called the "Bill Gates of Africa," was born in Nigeria in 1954. Like many African schoolchildren, he dropped out of school at age 14 because his father could not continue paying Emeagwali's school fees. However, his father continued teaching him at home, and everyday Emeagwali performed mental exercises such as solving 100 math problems in one hour. His father taught him until Philip "knew more than he did."
Growing up in a country torn by civil war, Emeagwali lived in a building crumbled by rocket shells. He believed his intellect was a way out of the line of fire. So he studied hard and eventually received a scholarship to Oregon State University when he was 17 where he obtained a BS in mathematics. He also earned three other degrees – a Ph.D. in Scientific computing from the University of Michigan and two Masters degrees from George Washington University.
The noted black inventor received acclaim based, at least in part, on his study of nature, specifically bees. Emeagwali saw an inherent efficiency in the way bees construct and work with honeycomb and determined computers that emulate this process could be the most efficient and powerful. In 1989, emulating the bees' honeycomb construction, Emeagwali used 65,000 processors to invent the world's fastest computer, which performs computations at 3.1 billion calculations per second.
Dr. Philip Emeagwali's resume is loaded with many other such feats, including ways of making oil fields more productive – which has resulted in the United States saving hundreds of millions of dollars each year. As one of the most famous African-American inventors of the 20th century, Dr. Emeagwali also has won the Gordon Bell Prize – the Nobel Prize for computation. His computers are currently being used to forecast the weather and to predict the likelihood and effects of future global warming.
http://www.black-inventor.com/Dr-Philip-Emeagwali.asp -
Dr. James E. West
Electret Microphone Inventor
Dr. James E. West
Ninety percent of microphones used today are based on the ingenuity of James Edward West, an African-American inventor born in 1931 in Prince Edwards County, VA. If you’ve ever talked on the telephone, you’ve probably used his invention.
Dr. James E. West and a colleague, Gerhard Sessler, developed the mic (officially known as the Electroacoustic Transducer Electret Microphone) while with Bell Laboratories, and they received a patent for it in 1962. The acoustical technologies employed became widely used for many reasons including high performance, acoustical accuracy and reliability. It is also small, lightweight and cost effective.
West started at Bell labs as an intern and joined them full-time in 1957 after graduating from Temple University. As the inventor of the microphone, James West has received numerous awards and honors including a Fellow of IEEE, Industrial Research Institute's 1998 Achievement Award, 1995 Inventor of the Year from the State of New Jersey and induction in the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999. James E. West holds 47 US patents and more than 200 foreign patents from his 40-year career with Bell Laboratories.
During his career, West also involved himself with programs designed to encourage minorities to take more of a role in the sciences. In the 1970's, he was a member of the Association of Black Laboratories Employees (ABLE) at Bell Labs that influenced management to fund the Summer Research Program (SRP) and Cooperate Research Fellowship Program (CRFP) – programs that helped more than 500 non-white students graduate with degrees in science, engineering and mathematics.
James Edward West now works with Johns Hopkins University as a research professor.
http://www.black-inventor.com/James-E-West.asp -
George Alcorn
Inventor of the Imaging X-ray Spectrometer
George Alcorn
Not many inventors have resumes as impressive as George Edward Alcorn's. Among his credits, the African-American inventor received a B.A. in physics, a master's degree in nuclear physics and a Ph.D in atomic and molecular physics. On top of that, Alcorn worked for the likes of Philco-Ford, Perkin-Elmer, IBM and NASA, created over 20 different inventions and was granted eight patents.
Despite such impressive credentials, Alcorn is probably most famous for his innovation of the imaging x-ray spectrometer – a device that helps scientists better understand what materials are composed of when they cannot be broken down. Receiving a patent for his method in 1984, Alcorn's inclusion of the thermomigration of aluminum in the spectrometer was regarded as a major innovation by experts in the field. The invention led to Alcorn's reception of the NASA Inventor of the Year Award.
And that wasn't the only award George Edward Alcorn received. Along with being awarded a NASA medal for his work in recruiting minority scientists and engineers, he also won the Government Executives Magazine's prestigious Technology Leadership Award for the Airborne Lidar Topographical Mapping System. And, in 2001, Alcorn was awarded special congressional recognition for his efforts in helping ? Islands businesses through application of NASA technology and technology programs.
George Alcorn's work as an educator should not be overlooked either. He held positions at both Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia, where he taught courses in electrical engineering. He also was an organizer and mentor for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's (UMBC's) Myerhoff Program, which works to promote minority Ph.Ds in science and mathematics.
Wow a black man invented the ? X RAY. I Love being Black -
Dr. Mark Dean
Computer Inventions
Dr. Mark Dean
As a child, Mark Dean excelled in math. In elementary school, he took advanced level math courses and, in high school, Dean even built his own computer, radio, and amplifier. Dean continued his interests and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a masters degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford. He is one of the most prominent black inventors in the field of computers.
Dr. Mark Dean started working at IBM in 1980 and was instrumental in the invention of the Personal Computer (PC). He holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents and currently holds more than 20 total patents. The famous African-American inventor never thought the work he was doing would end up being so useful to the world, but he has helped IBM make instrumental changes in areas ranging from the research and application of systems technology circuits to operating environments. One of his most recent computer inventions occurred while leading the team that produced the 1-Gigahertz chip, which contains one million transistors and has nearly limitless potential. -
Benjamin Banneker
Invented America's First Clock
Benjamin Banneker
In the Stevie Wonder song "Black Man," the Motown marvel sings of Benjamin Banneker: "first clock to be made in America was created by a black man." Though the song is a fitting salute to a great inventor (and African Americans in general), it only touches on the genius of Benjamin Banneker and the many hats he wore – as a farmer, mathematician, astronomer, author and land surveyor.
Like a lot of early inventors, Benjamin Banneker was primarily self-taught. The son of former slaves, Benjamin worked on the family tobacco farm and received some early education from a Quaker school. But most of his advanced knowledge came from reading, reading and more reading. At 15 he took over the farm and invented an irrigation system to control water flow to the crops from nearby springs. As a result of Banneker's innovation, the farm flourished – even during droughts.
But it was his clock invention that really propelled the reputation of Benjamin Banneker. Sometime in the early 1750s, Benjamin borrowed a pocket watch from a wealthy acquaintance, took the watch apart and studied its components. After returning the watch, he created a fully functioning clock entirely out of carved wooden pieces. The clock was amazingly precise, and would keep on ticking for decades. As the result of the attention his self-made clock received, Banneker was able to start up his own watch and clock repair business.
And Benjamin Banneker's accomplishments didn't end there. Borrowing books on astronomy and mathematics from a friend, Benjamin engorged himself in the subjects. Putting his newfound knowledge to use, Banneker accurately predicted a 1789 solar eclipse. In the early 1790s, Banneker added another job title to his resume – author. Benjamin compiled and published his Almanac and Ephemeris of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland (he would publish the journal annually for over a decade), and even sent a copy to secretary of state Thomas Jefferson along with a letter urging the abolition of slavery.
Impressed by his abilities, Jefferson recommended Banneker to be a part of a surveying team to lay out Washington, D.C. Appointed to the three-man team by president George Washington, Banneker wound up saving the project when the lead architect quit in a fury – taking all the plans with him. Using his meticulous memory, Banneker was able to recreate the plans. Wielding knowledge like a sword, Benjamin Banneker was many things – inventor, scientist, anti-slavery proponent – and, as a result, his legacy lives on to this day. -
Dr. Charles Drew
Blood Bank Inventor
Dr. Charles Drew
It's impossible to determine how many hundreds of thousands of people would have lost their lives without the contributions of African-American inventor Dr. Charles Drew. This physician, researcher and surgeon revolutionized the understanding of blood plasma – leading to the invention of blood banks.
Born in 1904 in Washington, D.C., Charles Drew excelled from early on in both intellectual and athletic pursuits. After becoming a doctor and working as a college instructor, Drew went to Columbia University to do his Ph.D. on blood storage. He completed a thesis titled Banked Blood that invented a method of separating and storing plasma, allowing it to be dehydrated for later use. It was the first time Columbia awarded a doctorate to an African-American.
At the onset of World War II, Drew was called upon to put his techniques into practice. He emerged as the leading authority on mass transfusion and processing methods, and went on to helm the American Red Cross blood bank. When the Armed Forces ordered that only Caucasian blood be given to soldiers, Drew protested and resigned. -
Kenneth J. Dunkley
3-D Viewing Glasses and Holography
Kenneth J. Dunkley
Kenneth J. Dunkley is currently the president of the Holospace Laboratories Inc. in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He is best known for inventing Three Dimensional Viewing Glasses (3-DVG) – his patented invention that displays 3-D effects from regular 2-D photos without any type of lenses, mirrors or optical elements. By studying human vision, Dunkley discovered that blocking two points in a person's peripheral vision will cause an ordinary picture to appear 3-Dimensional, so he developed his 3-DVG to block out these points.
In addition to his 3-DVG invention, Kenneth Dunkley also receives attention for his efforts as a visual pioneer. In Harrisburg, PA, at the Museum of Scientific Discovery, he has conducted visual effects workshops for four years. Dunkley is also a leader in the field of holography. -
Frederick McKinley Jones
Refrigerator Inventions
Frederick McKinley Jones
Anytime you see a truck on the highway transporting refrigerated or frozen food, you're seeing the work of Frederick McKinley Jones.
One of the most prolific Black inventors ever, Jones patented more than 60 inventions in his lifetime. While more than 40 of those patents were in the field of refrigeration, Jones is most famous for inventing an automatic refrigeration system for long haul trucks and railroad cars.
Before Jones' invention, the only way to keep food cool in trucks was to load them with ice. Jones was inspired to invent the system after talking with a truck driver who lost his whole cargo of chicken because he couldn't reach his destination before the ice melted. As a solution, the African-American inventor developed a roof-mounted cooling system to make sure food stayed fresh.
In addition to that refrigerator invention, Jones also invented an air-conditioning unit for military field hospitals, a refrigerator for military field kitchens, a self-starting gas engine, a series of devices for movie projectors and box-office equipment that gave tickets and made change. Jones was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1991 – the first Black inventor to ever receive such an honor. -
John Henry Thompson
Computer Programming and Software Inventions
John Henry Thompson
Even in high school, John Henry Thompson was interested in computer programming languages. He taught himself several programming languages such as FORTRAN, PLI, COBOL and JCL while working in a New York research facility. Thompson's goal was to absorb as much knowledge as possible so he could invent his own computer language.
After graduating from High School, he attended MIT where he obtained a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Visual Arts. By combining these two seemingly disparate disciplines, Thompson wanted to bridge the gap between art and technology. Four years later as a chief scientist at Macromedia™, he was able to make progress towards this goal. He developed a number of products, many of them based on his most famous invention, Lingo programming: a scripting language that helps render visuals in computer programs. Thompson used Lingo in one of his better-known computer inventions, Macromedia™ Director. Macromedia™ Director is able to incorporate different graphic formats (such as BMP, AVI, JPEG, QuickTime, PNG, RealVideo and vector graphics) to create multi-media content and applications, thus combining computer programming language with visual art.
Lingo is now used with many programs that have interactive simulations with graphics, animation, sound, and video. Along with Macromedia™ Director, Thompson has helped develop MediaMaker, Actions, VideoWorks Accelerator, and Video Works II. Lingo has also been used to create flash and shockwave programs that now are prevalent in video games, web design, animation, and graphics. -
A black granite statue of King Amenhotep III was found by chance in a residential house in Al-Nakhl village in Edfu, Aswan
In collaboration with Edfu police, Egypt's antiquities ministry has succeeded in recovering a black granite colossus of the 18th Dynasty King Amenhotep III.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the statue was found by chance when Edfu police entered a residential house in the Upper Egypt village of Al-Nakhl in Edfu, Aswan, to catch red-handed weapons and drugs traders.
He went on to say that after inspecting the statue the ministry’s archaeological committee verified its authenticity.
The statue is now in an antiquities storehouse in Edfu for restoration before transferring it to be put on display in Luxor Museum. Investigations are also pending to know where the statue was taken from, likely in illegal excavations.
Nasr Salama, director of Aswan Monuments, explained that the statue is carved in black granite and depicts King Amenhotep III standing with his left leg forward wearing the short skirt and a nemes headdress.
The middle part of the statue and its reverse side are engraved with hieroglyphic text while its base is decorated with the king’s various titles. -
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Elijah McCoy (1844 - 1929)
Elijah McCoy patented over fifty inventions.
Elijah McCoy -
By Mary Bellis, Inventors Expert
So, you want the "real McCoy?" That means you want the "real thing," what you know to be of the highest quality, not an inferior imitation.
The noted African American inventor, Elijah McCoy was issued more than 57 patents for his inventions during his lifetime. His best known invention was a cup that fed lubricating oil to machine bearings through a small bore tube. Machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators might have used the expression "the real McCoy."
Continue Reading Below
Elijah McCoy - Biography
The inventor was born in 1843, in Colchester, Ontario, Canada. His parents were former slaves, George and Mildred McCoy (nee Goins) had fled Kentucky for Canada on the underground railroad.
George McCoy enlisted in the British forces, in return, he was awarded 160 acres of land for his service. When Elijah was three, his family moved back to the U.S., settling in Detroit, Michigan. He had eleven brothers and sisters.
In 1868, Elijah McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart who died four years later.
See Also: Black History Month - African American Inventors
A year later, McCoy married his second wife Mary Eleanora Delaney. The couple had no children.
At the age of fifteen, Elijah McCoy served a mechanical engineering apprenticeship in Edinburgh, Scotland. Afterwards, he returned to Michigan to pursue a position in his field. However, the only job he found was that of a locomotive fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad. The fireman on a train was responsible for fueling the steam engine and the oiler lubricated the engine's moving parts as well as the train's axles and bearings.
Because of his training, he was able to identify and solve the problems of engine lubrication and overheating. At that time, trains needed to periodically stop and be lubricated, to prevent overheating. Elijah McCoy developed a lubricator for steam engines that did not require the train to stop. His lubricator used steam pressure to pump oil wherever it was needed.
Elijah McCoy - Patents for Lubricators
Elijah McCoy was issued his first patent - US patent #129,843 - on July 12th, 1872 for his improvement in lubricators for steam engines. McCoy continued to improve upon his design and invented several more improvements. Railroad and shipping lines began using McCoys new lubricators and the Michigan Central Railroad promoted him to an instructor in the use of his new inventions. Later, Elijah McCoy became a consultant to the railroad industry on patent matters.
Final Years
In 1920, McCoy opened his own company, the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company. Unfortunately, Elijah McCoy suffered in his later years, enduring a financial, mental, and physical breakdown. McCoy died on October 10, 1929 from senile dementia caused by hypertension after spending a year in the Eloise Infirmary in Michigan. -
Black people have plenty to be proud of.
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cannonspike1994 wrote: »Black people have plenty to be proud of.
Exactly! Our people have done tremendous amount innovations just over the course of a century that were revolutionary. -
cannonspike1994 wrote: »Dr. Mark Dean
Computer Inventions
Dr. Mark Dean
As a child, Mark Dean excelled in math. In elementary school, he took advanced level math courses and, in high school, Dean even built his own computer, radio, and amplifier. Dean continued his interests and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a masters degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford. He is one of the most prominent black inventors in the field of computers.
Dr. Mark Dean started working at IBM in 1980 and was instrumental in the invention of the Personal Computer (PC). He holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents and currently holds more than 20 total patents. The famous African-American inventor never thought the work he was doing would end up being so useful to the world, but he has helped IBM make instrumental changes in areas ranging from the research and application of systems technology circuits to operating environments. One of his most recent computer inventions occurred while leading the team that produced the 1-Gigahertz chip, which contains one million transistors and has nearly limitless potential.
Wow, very impressive. Thanks for letting us know bruh -
kingblaze84 wrote: »A Nigerian man at one point helped create the fastest computer in the world.....he also helped create wi-fi internet and improved the speed of search engines
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/computer-science/emeagwali_philip.html
Philip Emeagwali's father went to school with Chike Obi, the first African to get a Ph.D. in Mathematics. Philip Emeagwali was born in 1954 in Nigeria.
Philip Emeagwali designed the program and formula for the fastest computer on earth, the Connection Machine. He designed the system of parallel computers that are used by all search engines, for example Yahoo or Search.com. The parallel computer idea was also worked on by individuals such as Burton Smith and Daniel Hillis.
The Connection Machine with a program developed by Philip Emeagwali solved a 350 year old packing problem that was considered to be one of the great unsolved mathematics problems. The Connection Machine and Mr. Emeagwali also designed equations to explain how sperm swim, how polluted groundwater flows, how the Earth's interior moves and causes volcanic eruptions, finally how to recover petroleum safer and in larger quantities.
Finally Philip Emeagwali designed the Hyperball computer which is able to forecast long-term global warming patterns.
That's amazing, this was all done in the 90's and I'm just learning about this. Smh, pitiful.
This is DOPE, but I have a feeling our hands won't be the only ones in the ? !
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kingblaze84 wrote: »
Yeah, it's a great feeling knowing we have such a rich history....if more knew, then more would see their potential.[/quote]
Completely agree with this!kingblaze84 wrote: »I also take pride that Europeans weren't able to fully colonize and cause chaos in most of Africa until the 1880s, while Europeans did the same in the Americas as early as the 1400s. That shows how strong we were.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Africa
Between 1878 and 1898, European states partitioned and conquered most of Africa. For 400 years, European nations had mainly limited their involvement to trading stations on the African coast. Few dared venture inland from the coast; those that did, like the Portuguese, often met defeats and had to retreat to the coast.
Would that change have been brought on by the gun?
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@bbkg79
It's bigger then the gun, because Europeans had access to the gun since roughly the 1400s. The bigger breakthrough for Europeans was the speed in which guns could re-load. That changed everything. -
kingblaze84 wrote: »@bbkg79
It's bigger then the gun, because Europeans had access to the gun since roughly the 1400s. The bigger breakthrough for Europeans was the speed in which guns could re-load. That changed everything.
It was more or less incomptent weapon since you had to reload and put in gun powder just so much to do. But the machine gun changed that. -
well, they were colonizing prior to the era of machine guns, but that undoubtedly made it easier.Ajackson17 wrote: »It was more or less incomptent weapon since you had to reload and put in gun powder just so much to do. But the machine gun changed that.
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well, they were colonizing prior to the era of machine guns, but that undoubtedly made it easier.Ajackson17 wrote: »It was more or less incomptent weapon since you had to reload and put in gun powder just so much to do. But the machine gun changed that.
They were having a lot of trouble getting inside of the mainland. Plus, it was more of manipulation versus military and a lot of europeans were scared of going into the mainland to occupy it. -
Ajackson17 wrote: »
well, they were colonizing prior to the era of machine guns, but that undoubtedly made it easier.Ajackson17 wrote: »It was more or less incomptent weapon since you had to reload and put in gun powder just so much to do. But the machine gun changed that.
They were having a lot of trouble getting inside of the mainland. Plus, it was more of manipulation versus military and a lot of europeans were scared of going into the mainland to occupy it.
Yeah, but I think what he meant to say was that before the machine gun, the guns Europeans had access to were still good enough to colonize many other non-African places before the 1880s. -
well, the main thing is that they didn't start colonizing with machine guns, so it wasn't strictly an issue of "now we can do this thing." don't know that i would totally say "scared," either, because Europeans were definitely colonizing in the face of massacres prior.Ajackson17 wrote: »They were having a lot of trouble getting inside of the mainland. Plus, it was more of manipulation versus military and a lot of europeans were scared of going into the mainland to occupy it.
that said, i'm not entirely sure what you're calling "mainland" and what's outside that, and i would definitely say the specific area/colonizer makes a difference in this debate. -
well, the main thing is that they didn't start colonizing with machine guns, so it wasn't strictly an issue of "now we can do this thing." don't know that i would totally say "scared," either, because Europeans were definitely colonizing in the face of massacres prior.Ajackson17 wrote: »They were having a lot of trouble getting inside of the mainland. Plus, it was more of manipulation versus military and a lot of europeans were scared of going into the mainland to occupy it.
that said, i'm not entirely sure what you're calling "mainland" and what's outside that, and i would definitely say the specific area/colonizer makes a difference in this debate.
Passed the coastal parts. Let me get some references for you, so you can understand. -
i really just want to hear an example or two of what's "past the coastal parts"Ajackson17 wrote: »Passed the coastal parts. Let me get some references for you, so you can understand.
https://youtu.be/V9MjUj9fudA