Patricia Bath is the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. She invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment in 1986.
1942-
1920-1982
Scientist George Carruthers created inventions, such as the ultraviolet camera, or spectograph, which was used by NASA in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight, revealing the mysteries of space and the Earth's atmosphere.
1939-
George Washington Carver was a prominent African-American scientist and inventor. Carver is best known for the many uses he devised for the peanut.
1864-1943
David Nelson Crosthwait, Jr. was an African American pioneer in the field of heating and air conditioning, best known for heating up Radio City Music Hall.
1898-1976
Computer scientist and engineer Mark Dean is credited with helping develop a number of landmark technologies, including the color PC monitor, the Industry Standard Architecture system bus and the first gigahertz chip.
1957-
Entrepreneur and inventor Sarah E. Goode was the first African-American woman to receive a United States patent.
1850-1905
Lonnie G. Johnson is an engineer and inventor who worked on the Cassini mission to Jupiter and invented the Super Soaker.
1949-
African-American chemist Percy Julian was a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills.
1899-1975
Lewis Howard Latimer was an inventor and draftsman best known for his contributions to the patenting of the light bulb and the telephone.
1848-1928
Elijah McCoy was a 19th century African-American inventor best known for inventing lubrication devices used to make train travel more efficient.
1844-1929
Garrett Morgan blazed a trail for African-American inventors with his many patents, including those for a hair-straightening product, a breathing device, and an improved sewing machine and traffic signal.
1877-1963
African-American hairdresser and inventor Lyda Newman patented an improved hairbrush design in New York City in 1898.
1885-
Madam C.J. Walker was the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. Her business was worth more than $1 million at the time of her death.
1867-1919
James West is an American inventor who developed the foil electret microphone, now used in 90 percent of all contemporary microphones, in 1962.
1931-
Known as "Black Edison," Granville Woods was an African-American inventor who made key contributions to the development of the telephone, street car and more.
1856-1910