Discover the Genius Behind the Scenes: Top 11 Fun Facts About Garrett Morgan You Need to Know

1. Traffic Hopscotch Hero

Before traffic lights became the silent guardians of intersections and evolved from their red, amber, and green single-cell ancestors: Garrett Morgan's T-shaped, manually operated contraption paved the way, pausing traffic to prevent colliding cars and prancing pedestrians from playing impromptu hopscotch. Undeterred by racism, he sold the patent to General Electric for a cool $40,000, and his three-armed creation became the traffic-wrangling hero of cities far and wide.
Source => invention.si.edu

2. Kinking His Way to Success

Before he helped shape modern safety and transportation, Garrett Morgan had a smoother career in the hair product world, kinking his way to success: He founded the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company, selling hair straightening cream and black oil hair dye to African American customers, and used the profits from his lusciously coated enterprise to fund his pioneering inventions.
Source => blackmail4u.com

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=> Fun Facts about Transportation

3. Carbon, Costumes, and Cunning Minds

"Carbon, Costumes, and Cunning Minds": When it comes to smoke and mirrors, Garrett Morgan literally and figuratively played with fire - on his way to inventing lifesaving gadgets: Morgan's innovation of the gas mask was inspired by the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in 1911, where he devised a method to draw air through a tube near the ground, working brilliantly against carbon monoxide. Facing prejudice and sales difficulties, Morgan concocted a clever theatrics-filled sales pitch, proving not only the importance of his invention but also his innovative spirit that led him to develop the three-position traffic signal with an 'all hold' amber light, later selling it to General Electric for a hefty sum.
Source => scientificamerican.com

4. Oxygen-Masked Vigilante

Who needs superheroes when you have an inventor with an air bag? Meet Garrett Morgan, the real-life oxygen-masked vigilante of the 1916 Cleveland Catastrophe: Morgan, armed with his smoke hood invention (a clever gadget with no pressure restrictions), valiantly ventured into a gas-choked tunnel alongside his brother and a trio of brave volunteers. Their mission? To save several workers from the clutches of a deadly gas, including but not limited to, John R. Johnston and Gus Van Duzen. This heroic act catapulted Morgan's invention into the firefighting hall of fame, adopted by fire departments all across the nation.
Source => carnegiehero.org

5. Real-Life Frogger Game

Before the invention of Garrett Morgan's traffic light, pedestrians were a real-life "Frogger" game, dodging cars left and right to cross the street: Morgan's three-position traffic signal was a game-changer, helping not only automobile users but also pedestrians by including a warning signal for them to clear the intersection before giving the green light to vehicles, resulting in safer streets and fewer fender benders.
Source => funtimesmagazine.com

6. Third Option Traffic Hero

If only our lives had a third option like Garrett Morgan's traffic signal: to slooooow down, get a cup of coffee, and read some intriguing Black literature: Garrett Morgan not only innovated the traffic signal by adding a third "warning" position for safer crossings, but he also owned a thriving repair and garment shop, started the widely-read Cleveland Call newspaper, and sold his traffic signal patent rights to General Electric for $40,000.
Source => history.com

7. Hair Game and Traffic Swings

Before the Kardashians brought hair-straightening into the limelight, Garrett Morgan was making everyone's hair game on point, and swinging traffic lights all around Cleveland: This multi-talented inventor and businessman patented several products including a fire-resistant smoke hood, a hair-straightening cream, and a traffic signal with a warning light. Morgan also co-founded the Cleveland Association of Colored Men and generously supported historically black colleges and universities, leaving a legacy that includes schools and buildings named in his honor.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Big Chief Mason: Gas Mask Hero

Before donning his superhero cape and saving the day, Garrett Morgan had to play dress-up as Big Chief Mason, a cunning Native American who could survive the most dangerous of situations – all thanks to his trusty "safety hood": Little did the skeptics know, this "safety hood" was the first-ever gas mask, and amidst the chaos of the 1916 Cleveland Tunnel explosion, Morgan and his brother emerged as real-life heroes, garnering the attention and eventual adoption of his invention by the Navy and Army during World War I.
Source => hurlburt.af.mil

9. Kinky Conundrums and Tress-Taming Talents

Unraveling the kinky conundrums: Garrett Morgan, the master of life-saving devices, didn't stop at stoplights and gas masks. He ventured into the world of hair care and concocted a miraculous solution that straightened hair without inflicting damage. Earning accolades for his G.A Morgan Hair Straightening Cream and later patenting an electric hair-curling comb, Morgan's tress-taming talents turned heads and became the mane event in Cleveland.
Source => americacomesalive.com

10. Strand-Up Comedy Origins

What do sewing needles have in common with fabulous hair? More than you might "straight" up believe! Garrett Morgan got his "strand-up" comedy act together by accidentally creating hair straightening cream with a needle lubricating solution in 1909: This serendipitous discovery led to the founding of the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company, which grew into a successful business serving black customers and funding further inventive ventures, like the gas mask and traffic signal.
Source => blackmail4u.com

11. Caped Crusader and Civics Vigilante

Before he was shaking things up in the hero business like a caped crusader, Garrett Morgan was moonlighting as a civics vigilante, championing equality for the African American community: Morgan co-founded the Cleveland Association of Colored Men in 1908, and his safety hood invention gained national attention when he rescued several men from a tunnel explosion in 1916. Despite his valiant efforts, city officials took years to recognize his heroic deeds, eventually leading to a group of citizens presenting him with a bling-tastic, diamond-studded gold medal.
Source => en.wikipedia.org