Garrett Morgan Essay

Garrett Augustus Morgan was born in Paris, Kentucky on March 4, 1877. At the age of fourteen his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in poverty and only achieved grade school. Garrett started inventing at the age of twenty. His first invention was a belt fastener for a sewing machine. The invention was sold for $150 dollars. By 1907, he had started a sewing machine and repair store (William, 2010). Later in 1909, he turned his repair shop into a tailor shop. However, during a tragedy in 1911 his shop caught on fire killing 146 people. History was forever changed July 24, 1916. Somewhere in the city of Cleveland there was an explosion in one of the underground tunnels that the city had built in order to deal with the city's contaminated
Therefore, he invented the first gas mask prototype that firefighters use today. The mask was made to help firefighters save individuals trapped within a building filled with toxic fumes. When the tunnel collapsed, he put on his own gas mask invention and was able to save the people that were in trapped in the tunnel during 1916. He published his idea to the U.S Patent Office on August 19, 1912 which was granted on October 13, 1914 (William, 2010). In 1912, he started a company with other men which had a profit of $10.00. Four months later his shares increased to $250 (William, 2010). The U.S Navy and Army used his concept of a gas mask during WW1. G.A. Morgan also impacted our transportation system. Morgan patented the three-position traffic signal in the year 1923 (Lawrence, 1998). Before his invention, the traffic lights only had two settings which were red for stop and green to go. However, the quick changes caused an increase of traffic accidents at busy intersections. Morgan’s invention included three positions: stop, go and an all direction stop setting (Lawrence, 1998). This third option stopped traffic, allowing a smoother transition in traffic while allowing a safer passage for