On March 25, 1983—30 years ago—Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk for the first time during his performance of “Billie Jean” on NBC’s Motown 25th...
The Spirit of Invention is a fascinating examination of innovation as a driving characteristic of Americans from all eras and all walks of life. In...
The creation of heroes has been important for American society. Heroes help define what it means to be an American, produce narratives about our...
When we first began to document invention at the Lemelson Center, we were uncertain about what we might find. No one, to our knowledge, really had a...
Scholars working at the intersection of African-American history and the history of technology are redefining the idea of technology to include the...
Enabling the blind to see is the greatest joy of Dr. Patricia Bath, eye surgeon, professor of ophthalmology, inventor of the Laserphaco Probe for the...
Race and technology are two of the most powerful motifs in American history, but until recently they have not often been considered in relation to...
David Gittens, inventor of the award-winning Ikenga gyroplane, does not confine his creativity to aircraft. His professional work encompasses fashion...
As part of the Lemelson Center's Innovative Lives series, astrophysicist George Carruthers talked to middle-school students about being a real-life...
Today, Bill Gates—a Harvard dropout who founded the fabulously successful software company Microsoft—is one of the richest men in the world. And more...
Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, six years after his parents, George and Rebecca Latimer, had run away...
One afternoon in the fall of 1939 in the small town of Alexandria, LA, a skinny six-year-old boy peeked shyly round the wide gate of a bus company...
