Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 2-5-21

Black History
‘I Have An Idea: The History Of Black Inventions’
Thomas Jennings
dry cleaner. The method of cleaning clothes without sub- merging them in water was called “dry scouring.”
In 1821, Jennings ob- tained a patent for his inven- tion of using chemicals to clean material. He was about 30 years old.
Jean Baptiste Jolly re- fined his own technique and stashed a dry cleaning busi- ness in Paris four years after Jennings.
At the time of the inven- tion, Blacks were not allowed to obtain patents. But Jen- nings found a loophole in the law. He was not a slave, he was a free man. And since he was free, his “slave master” would not automatically receive credit for the invention.
Several decades later, Con- gress extended patent rights to all African American individu- als, slaves and free men.
The money Jennings re- ceived for the patent allowed him to purchase the freedom of the rest of his family and to donate to abolitionist causes.
George Carruthers
George Carruthers is shown with former President Barack Obama
Born in 1939, George Carruthers is a astrophysi- cist who has dedicated much of his career to working with the Space Science Division of the Naval Research Labora- tory, in Washington, D. C.
He is most famous for cre- ating the ultraviolet camera/spectrograph, which NASA used when it launched Apollo 16 in 1972. The inven- tion helped prove that molec- ular hydrogen existed in interstellar space.
In 1974, space scientist used a new model version of the camera to observe Halley’s Comet and other celestial phe- nomena on the U. S.’s first space station, Skylab.
Carruters was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2003.
Inventors
Patricia Bath (1942- Present) invented the Cataract Laserphaco Probe.
Her device used an innova- tive method of removing cataract lenses with a laser, which was more accurate than the drill-like instruments that were in common use at the time. The New York ophthal- mologist’s invention, patented in 1988, helped save the eye- sight of millions and even re- stored sight to people who had been blind for more than 30 years.
Marc Hannah (1956- Present) invented: 3-D Graphics Technology Used in Films.
Anyone awed by the spe- cial effects in the films Juras- sic Park, Terminator, 2, and The Abyss should thank Chicago-native Marc Han- nah. The computer scientist is
It would be practically im- possible to list all of the things invented by African Ameri- cans. The first African Ameri- can to receive a patent in the United States was Thomas L. Jennings. His invention of
the dry cleaning machine paved the way for other Blacks to receive patents for their in- ventions.
Jennings was born in 1791. He lived and worked in New York City as a tailor and
DRY CLEANING MACHINE
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