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Article from The Woman Inventor, 1890, titled “Colored Woman Inventor,” with the story of Ellen Eglin who invented a clothes-wringer but was afraid that white women would not buy the wringer if they knew it had been invented by an African American woman. Eglin sold her invention to an agent for $18 in 1888 and made no further profit from it.

Laundry was a grueling task in the 1800s. Fuel and water had to be gathered, clothes scrubbed and wrung by hand, then hung to dry, and later pressed...

Advertising image showing inventor Garthen Leslie holding the Aros air conditioner that he invented. He stands against a backdrop of blueprint-type sketches for the air conditioner. A cut-out of a polar bear wearing a red scarf is at his feet.

During February’s Black History Month, the Lemelson Center is celebrating the achievements of African American inventors. In my research, I learned...

Frances Gabe pointing to model of her self-cleaning house, 1979

Frances Gabe, inventor of the self-cleaning house, died at 101 on December 26, 2016. Other than a brief mention in her hometown Oregon newspaper The...

George Foreman Grill with lid open, about 1995

With famous boxer George Foreman’s smiling face as its TV pitchman and a catchy marketing name, “the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine,” the...

Tappan Model RL-1 microwave oven

It seemed like a simple, straightforward publication request: please write a 1,000 word biography about Percy LeBaron Spencer, the inventor of the...

"Joy" movie poster

Jennifer Lawrence, the 25-year-old Academy Award-winning actor, plays the inventor Joy Mangano in the new movie “Joy.” As a part of the team here at...

Charlotte Cramer Sachs

Charlotte Cramer Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1907. In 1924, she moved to New York, and in 1945, she married Alexander Sachs, an...

Fresh Paper inventor Kavita Shukla

Note: “Try It” refers to a step in the invention process – testing your product. This post is not an endorsement of any product. A few weeks ago, I...

Late one night in 1946, a very tired mother was faced with a wet, crying baby yet again. Changing her second daughter's soaked cloth diaper, clothing...