Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
E-mail article
Print viewFebruary focus on black history
Garrett Augustus Morgan 1877-1963
Morgan was an inventor and businessman from Kentucky who in 1914 created a gas inhalator called the Morgan safety hood and smoke protector.
After Morgan and a team of volunteers used the mask to rescue 32 men trapped in a tunnel 250 feet underground, he got orders from fire departments around the country. Upon discovery that he was black, many orders were canceled. The mask was later refined for use by the U.S. Army.
Morgan in 1923 received a patent for a traffic signal that is the model for the current system. General Electric paid him $40,000 for the idea.
— Leslie Fulbright
Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
Marketplace
nwjobs
Workplace challenges
Work, unplugged: Connected to the office 24/7? Break free from the digital leashPost a comment
Search for a Job
Nine to Thrive
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos
2009's most fuel-efficient carsnew
Choosing a new car? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
Choosing a new car? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
Open Houses | Find this weekend's open house listings.  Or search by location: |
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
140 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000 129
- Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities 128
- Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle 123
- Cutting through breast-cancer confusion 92
- Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle 90
- Game thread 70
- New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law 68
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors 54
- Illegal workers quietly let go 51
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Protect yourself from baggage loss
