blueprint (copy)
On this date in 1932, Richard B. Spikes received a patent for an automatic gear shift for cars. Major companies welcomed his inventions. Its patent #1889,814.
By the time he was creating the automatic safety brake in 1962, Spikes was losing his vision. To complete the device, he first created a drafting machine for blind designers. The machine would soon be used in almost every school bus in the nation.
Created Equal: The Lives and Ideas of Black American Innovators
By James Michael Brodie
Copyright 1993, by Bill Adler Books, Inc.
William Morrow and Co. Inc., New York
ISBN 0-688-11536-5
