Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 2-5-21

Black History
More Black Inventions
they still work under the basic principle of automated open- ing and closing doors. His life and his invention helped to break down racial barriers in many ways.
James E. West (1931- Present) invented the Elec- troacoustic Transducer Electret Microphone.
Without James West, rappers wouldn’t be able to rock the mic. West, along with Gerhard M. Sessler, helped develop the electroacoustic transducer electret micro- phone, for which they received a patent in 1962. Their inven- tion was acoustically accurate, lightweight and cost effective. Ninety percent of micro- phones in use today — includ- ing those in telephones, tape recorders and camcorders — are based on their original concept.
Arthur Zang (1988- Present) invented the Car- diopad. The 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer, has in- vented the Cardopad, a touch- screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) to be performed at re- mote, rural locations while the results of the test are trans- ferred wirelessly to specialists who can interpret them. The device spares African patients living in remote areas the trouble of having to travel to urban centers to seek medical
examinations.
Elijah McCoy (1844- 1929) invented a Railroad Lu- brication Machine.
McCoy, who was from Canada, invented a lubrication device to make railroad opera- tion more efficient. After studying the inefficiencies in- herent in the existing system of oiling axles, McCoy in- vented a lubricating cup that distributed oil evenly over the engine’s moving parts. He ob- tained a patent for this inven- tion in 1872, which allowed trains to run continuously for long periods of time without pausing for maintenance.
Ludwick Marishane (1991-Present) invented DryBath. At age 21, Ludwick Marishane developed a for- mula that people use to bathe without water. DryBath is a lo-
tion that cleanses cheaply and easily — especially important for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who lack proper ac- cess to water and sanitation.
DryBath has the same ef- fect as an antibacterial cleanser, but it’s odorless and creates a biodegradable film that cleans and moisturizes the skin. Five years later, it’s now available on the market. Marishane has since en- rolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and was named the Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011.
Onesimus
There is not a lot known about the birth of an African slave known as Onesimus. It is assumed he was born in Africa in the late Seventeenth Century before eventually landing in Boston. He had been given to Puritan Church Minister Cotton Mather by his congregation in 1706.
Onesimus shared with his master that the centuries
old tradition of inoculation practiced in Africa. By extract- ing the material from an in- fected person and scratching it into the skin of an uninfected person, they deliberately in- troduced an infectious disease into a healthy individual mak- ing that person immune.
It was considered ex- tremely dangerous, but Min- ister Mather convinced Dr. Zabdiel Boylston to experi- ment with the procedure when a smallpox epidemic hit Boston in 1721 and over 240 people were inoculated. They were criticized throughout the country as well as in other countries. But the recorded ex- periment proved that only 2% of patients requesting inocula- tion died compared to the 15% of people who were not inocu- lated and who contracted smallpox.
Onesimus’ traditional African practice was used to inoculate American soldiers during the Revolutionary War and introduced the concept of inoculation to the United States.
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