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Elijah McCoy biography

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A black Canadian inventor and manufacturer, Elijah McCoy opened the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company in 1920, going on to claiming some 50 patents.


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Born in 1843 in Canada, Elijah McCoy was an inventor and manufacturer whose African American parents had fled from Kentucky to escape slavery. He opened the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Co. (1920) and patented an improved airbrake lubricator, one of the some 50 patents he obtained during his lifetime.

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Inventor and manufacturer, born in Canada. His African-American parents had fled from Kentucky to escape slavery. He showed an early talent for mechanical innovations, and in Ypsilanti, MI he devloped lubricators for steam engines (1870). In 1882 he moved to Detroit, where he perfected his lubricating cup, still widely used to provide a steady supply of oil to machinery. He opened the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Co (1920) and patented an improved airbrake lubricator, one of the some 50 patents he obtained during his lifetime.

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