www.florid.org
|
www.florid.org
|
|
|
Famous Blacks in history Famous Black People of the past.
Rillieux returned to New Orleans. He viewed the methods for refining sugar from beets and cane were dangerous, crude and required backbreaking labor. The methods threatened the slaves who were required to label boiling cane juice from one scalding kettle to another to produce a dark sugar. Rillieux designed an evaporating pan which enclosed a series of condensing coils in vacuum chambers, issued as a patent U.S. 4,879. The invention was later used by sugar manufacturer in Cuba and Mexico. Rillieux's system took much of the hand labor out of the refining process, it saved fuel because the juice boiled at lower temperatures, and the new technique produced a superior final product. [Detail of Rillieux's career] The Rillieux device was patented in 1846 and was used widely on sugar plantations in Louisiana, Mexico, and the West Indies. The invention increased sugar production and reduced operating costs for the plantation system. "It was stated by Charles Brown, a chemist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that [Rillieux's invention of the sugar processing pan] was the greatest invention in the history of American Chemical Engineering." (Sammons) Upon Rillieux's death he was buried in Paris, France in 1894.
So, you want the "real McCoy?" That means you want the "real thing," what you know to be of the highest quality, not an inferior imitation. The saying may refer to a famous African-American inventor named Elijah McCoy. He earned more than 50 patents, but the most famous one was for a metal or glass cup that fed oil to bearings through a smallbore tube. Machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators may have originated the term, "the real McCoy." Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, in 1843, the son of slaves who had fled Kentucky. Educated in Scotland, he returned to Detroit, Michigan to pursue a position in his field of mechanical engineering. The only job available to him was that of a locomotive fireman/oilman for the Michigan Central Railroad. Because of his training, he was able to identify and solve the problems of engine lubrication and overheating. Railroad and shipping lines began using Elijah McCoy’s new lubricators, and Michigan Central promoted him to an instructor in the use of his new inventions. Later, Elijah McCoy moved to Detroit where he became a consultant to the railroad industry on patent matters. Unfortunately, success slipped away from McCoy, and he died in an infirmary after suffering financial, mental, and physical breakdown.
Lewis Latimer is considered one of the 10 most important Black inventors of all time not only for the sheer number of inventions created and patents secured but also for the magnitude of importance for his most famous discovery.
Lewis Latimer
was born on September 4, 1848 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His parents were George
and Rebecca Latimer, both runaway slaves who migrated to Massachusetts in 1842
from Virginia. George Latimer was captured by his slave owner, who was
determined to take him back to Virginia. His situation gained great notoriety,
even reaching the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Eventually George was purchased
by
Lewis served in the United
States Navy for the Union during the Civil War, assigned to the U.S.S.
Massasoit gunboat and received an honorable discharge on July 3, 1965. After
his discharge he sought employment throughout Boston, Massachusetts and
eventually gained a position as an office boy with a
In 1874, along with W.C. Brown, Latimer co-invented an improved of a train water closet, a bathroom compartment for railroad trains. Two years later, Latimer would play a part in one of the world's most important inventions. In 1876, Latimer was sought out as a draftsman by a teacher for deaf children. The teacher had created a device and wanted Lewis to draft the drawing necessary for a patent application. The teacher was Alexander Graham Bell and the device was the telephone. Working late into the night, Latimer worked hard to finish the patent application, which was submitted on February 14, 1876, just hours before another application was submitted by Elisha Gray for the a similar device. In 1880, after moving to Bridgeport, Connecticut, Latimer was hired as the assistant manager and draftsman for U.S. Electric Lighting Company owned by Hiram Maxim. Maxim was the chief rival to Thomas Edison, the man who invented the electric light bulb. The light was composed of a glass bulb which surrounded a carbon wire filament, generally made of bamboo, paper or thread. When the filament was burned inside of the bulb (which contained almost no air), it became so hot that it actually glowed. Thus by passing electricity into the bulb, Edison had been able to cause the glowing bright light to emanate within a room. Before this time most lighting was delivered either through candles or through gas lamps or kerosene lanterns. Maxim greatly desired to improve on Edison's light bulb and focused on the main weakness of Edison's bulb - their short life span (generally only a few days.) Latimer set out to make a longer lasting bulb. Latimer devised a way of encasing the filament within an cardboard envelope which prevented the carbon from breaking and thereby provided a much longer life to the bulb and hence made the bulbs less expensive and more efficient. This enabled electric lighting to be installed within homes and throughout streets Latimer applied for a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons" and it was granted in January 1882. Because he was working at the time for US Electric Lighting Company, he was forced to assign the patent to the company, and thus lost out on the enormous financial rewards which would result. Around this time, Latimer, along with Joseph V. Nichols received a patent for an improved incandescent lamp which utilized a more efficient way of connecting the carbon filament to the lead wires at the lamp base. Hiram Maxim named this invention the "Maxim Electric Lamp." Latimer abilities in electric lighting became well known and soon he was sought after to continue to improve on incandescent lighting as well as arc lighting. Eventually, as more major cities began wiring their streets for electric lighting, Latimer was dispatched to lead the planning team. He helped to install the first electric plants in Philadelphia, New York City and Montreal and oversaw the installation of lighting in railroad stations, government building and major thoroughfares in Canada, New England and London. In 1890, Latimer, having been hired by Thomas Edison, began working in the legal department of Edison Electric Light Company, serving as the chief draftsman and patent expert. In this capacity he drafted drawings and documents related to Edison patents, inspected plants in search of infringers of Edison's patents, conducted patent searches and testified in court proceeding on Edison's behalf. Later that year wrote the worlds most thorough book on electric lighting, "Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System." Lewis was named one of the charter members of the Edison pioneer, a distinguished group of people deemed responsible for creating the electrical industry. The Edison Electric Lighting would eventually evolve into what is now known as the General Electric Company. Latimer continued to display his creative talents over then next several years. In 1894 he created a safety elevator, a vast improvement on existing elevators. He next received a patent for Locking Racks for Hats, Coats, and Umbrellas. The device was used in restaurants, hotels and office buildings, holding items securely and allowing owners of items to keep the from getting misplaced or accidentally taken by others. He next created a improved version of a Book Supporter, used to keep books neatly arranged on shelves. Latimer next devised a method of making rooms more sanitary and climate controlled. He termed his device an Apparatus for Cooling and Disinfecting. The device worked wonders in hospitals, preventing dust and particles from circulating within patient rooms and public areas. Throughout the rest of his life, Latimer continued to try to devise ways of improving everyday living for the public, eventually working in efforts to improve the civil rights of Black citizens within the United States. He also painted portraits and wrote poetry and music for friends and family. Lewis Latimer died on December 11, 1928 and left behind a legacy of achievement and leadership that much of the world owes thanks. Alzheimer, alternate health, alternate cure, artheritis, brujeria, back pain, carpaltunnal, demon, exorcism, ghost removal, head aches, magic, metaphysic, orisha, paranormal, santeria, shaman, sorcellery, voudou, vodou, voudoo, wicca. |
|
Send mail to
tjkent@hotmail.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
Norbert
Rillieux was revolutionary in the sugar industry by inventing a refining process
that reduced the time, cost, and safety risk involved in producing sugar from
cane and beets. As the son of a French planter/inventor and a slave mother,
Norbert Rillieux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was educated at the
L'Ecole Central in Paris, France in 1830, were he studied evaporating
engineering and served as an educator. 
