For decades, history has underappreciated the expertise of the black when it comes to inventions. Most know the history of the light bulb and cars but what about potato chips, vinegar or ink?

Many of the inventions from the black community have contributed to making our lives easier and much more comfortable. As the celebrations for black history month continues, let us take a look a some inventions that derived from the black community.

Three Light Traffic Signal

Red (Stop), Amber (Slow Down), Green (Go). These are the colours that make up the universal three light traffic signal. The first traffic lights only had the colours red and green, giving drivers no time to react and this led to many collisions.

In 1923, with only an elementary school education, Garnett Morgan created the first ever patented three light traffic signal. With the addition of the amber light, drivers were now given the warning they needed to prepare for a traffic stop, resulting in fewer collisions.

Home Security System

Marie Van Brittan Brown contributed to making the society safer, with her invention of the home security system. In 1996, Brown created a closed-circuit television security system which paved the way for many modern home security systems used today.

Living in Queens, New York, and spending most of her nights alone while her husband was away, the inventor felt unsafe with high rates of crime in her community. It is also said that the police during this time were unreliable, so to put her mind at ease, Brown created the home security system.

Digital Cellular Phone

In 1988, Jesse Eugene Russell led the first team of Bell Laboratories that introduced digital cellular technology.

Prior to the digital cellular phone, mobile phones could only be used in a vehicle. The electrical engineer and business executive stated in an interview that it took a total of about four years before he and his team were successful.

“The guys that had built this original mobile phone system were really smart, right. But they started to see the passion in me about creating this digital cellular technology. And next thing you know, they got on board and we started. it took us about four years and we made the first digital cellular call to any place in the world,” Russell said.

Hair Brush (Synthetic Bristles)

Lydia Newman patented the first hair brush with synthetic bristles. Her decision to improve the hairbrush, stemmed from her own experience with being a black woman and a hairdresser.

At the time, hair brushes were made from animal hair and Newman wanted something that was more hygienic and efficient. The animal hair was too soft and was not able to properly manage coarse African hair.

More durable and much easier to use, Newman turned to synthetic fibres for the brush bristles. It was also easier to clear the debris away as there were as there was a compartment with a button, that could be opened for cleaning.

Potato Chips

It was in the summer of 1853, that Chef George Crum unintentionally created the famous potato chips. The chips were made in response to a displeased customer who found their potato chips too thick. The chips were an instant hit.

Crum never patented his creation.

Ink, Dye, Soap…

The agricultural chemist, George Washington Carver, in an effort to increase profitability on sweet potatoes and peanuts, began conducting other experiments in new products from the crops in 1896.

From his experiments he created 518 products which he revealed in 1914. These products include vinegar, ink, dye, soap, synthetic rubber and flour.