Imagine this: On July 24, 1916, a tunnel explodes more than 250 feet below Lake Erie. Smoke and dangerous gases stop all rescuers from saving anyone. 

Suddenly, a wonderful man (and his brother) heroically appear on the scene. Wearing funky masks, they enter the tunnel and rescue the trapped victims. These men were not superheroes. They were Garrett A. Morgan and his brother, Frank. Garrett had invented this “gas inhalator” a huge cloth mask with a tube reaching to the bottom. (Smoke and gases rise, so safe air is near the ground.) Later, the government made some changes, and it became the gas mask that we know today. But that’s not all! 

You see, before 1923, the streets were a wreck!  Cars and carriages drove at their own risk, and with their own rules. Garrett Morgan changed all that with his invention of the traffic light. Its design was simpler, but it was still very close to the traffic lights that we see today. 

Garrett also discovered a hair cream that most people believe was the first human hair straightener. Garrett didn’t just stick to inventing. He also founded a newspaper and ran for city council, because he didn’t think that black people had enough rights in the community. What a guy!