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Tue, 11.20.1923

A Black Man Patents a Traffic Signal

On this date in 1923, one of the first traffic signals in the United States was patented by a Black man.

Garrett Morgan applied for and acquired a U.S. patent for this invention. The patent number was 1,475,024. Morgan's technology was later patented in Great Britain and Canada.

General Electric bought Morgan's patent for $40,000, and his traffic management device was used throughout North America until it was replaced by the red, yellow and green traffic signals currently used around the world.

New Poem Each Day

Poetry Corner

He waltzes into the lane ‘cross the free-throw line, Fakes a drive pivots, floats from the asphalt turf in an arc of black light, and sinks two in the chains. One on... MAKIN’ JUMP SHOTS by Michael S. Harper.
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