I have searched and compiled a list of African American inventors and patent holders and their contributions to science and technology. We should be grateful for their hard work and dedication that has made a difference in all of our lives.

First African American woman to receive a patent for a medical invention.

• George Edward Alcorn invented a new type of x-ray spectrometer.

• Patricia Bath was the first African American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical invention.

• Otis Boykin invented an improved the Electrical Resistor used in computers, radios, television sets and many electronic devices we use today.

• Marie Brown invented a video home surveillance security system.

• George Carruthers invented the far-ultraviolet camera and the spectrograph.

• Benjamin S. Carson was a pioneer in surgery technology. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W. Bush in 2008.

• John Christian invented and patented new lubricants used in high flying aircraft and NASA space missions.

• David Crosthwait holds 39 patents for heating systems and temperature regulating devices. Some of his greatest accomplishments were for creating the heating systems for the Rockefeller Center and New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

• Mark Dean co-invented improvements in computer architecture that allowed IBM compatible PCs to use the same peripheral devices. He led the team that developed the ISA bus, and he led the design team responsible for creating the first one-gigahertz computer processor chip.

• Philip Emeagwali won the Gordon Bell Prize in 1989, considered the equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for developing the fastest supercomputer software in the world.

• Roscoe Koontz designed a pinhole gamma ray camera and collimator and helped to design and fabricate automatic air and water sampling equipment and radiation activity measuring devices.

• Cordell Reed improved nuclear electric power.

• Jerry Shelby invented an engine protection system for a recoverable rocket booster.

• Valerie Thomas received a patent in 1980 for inventing an illusion transmitter.

• John Henry Thompson Invented lingo programming used in Macromedia Director and Shockwave.

• James Edward West holds 47 U.S. and more than 200 foreign patents on microphones and techniques for making polymer foil-electrets.

In 1974, Atari engineer Harold Lee proposed a home version of Pong that would connect to a television: Home Pong. The system began development under the codename Darlene, named after an attractive female employee at Atari.

On September 5th, 1975 the home version of Pong was released and sold exclusively by Sears. The cost was just under $100. That seemed like a lot of money back than for a video game and console, but it was a game that I played with my brother for hours.

Game Play

The aim is to defeat an opponent – either computer-controlled or a second player – by earning a higher score.

Home Pong was an instant success following its limited 1975 release through Sears; around 150,000 units were sold that holiday season.

Home Pong was classified as a sports game, mimicking table tennis.

Other facts: The game was originally manufactured by Atari Incorporated (Atari), who released it in 1972 as a commercial version. Pong was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn’s work, Atari decided to manufacture the game.

On August 23, 1899, the first ship-to-shore wireless message in U.S. history is sent by Lightship No. 70 to a coastal receiving station at the Cliff House in San Francisco.

“Sherman is sighted,” the message said, this message was referring to the ship Sherman, which was returning a San Francisco regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. This marked the first use ever of this technology outside of England.

The invention of wireless telegraphy by Guglielmo Marconi is known today as the radio. Guglielmo Marconi obtained the British patent for wireless in 1896, when Britannia still ruled the waves.

Radio communication at sea quickly evolved into an indispensable safety aid for mariners. By the early 20th century ships were able to communicate with each other as well as with shore-based stations.

The failure of radio communication played a major role in the Titanic disaster in 1912. The radio operator aboard the Californian had turned off his radio set which was a common thing to do aboard ships carrying a single operator and never received the Titanic’s distress signals. If someone was tuned in on the Californian, the closest ship to the stricken liner, many lives could have been saved.

I am an avid baseball fan and I remember my dad telling me this story when I was a young kid. I found it amazing and thought that one day I could be a big leaguer, but that never panned out.

On this day in 1951, little person Eddie Gaedel makes his big league baseball debut with the St. Louis Browns, and is walked on four pitches in his one at-bat. Eddie Gaedel, who was 3′ 7″, jumped out of a cake between games then appeared as a pinch hitter in the bottom half of the doubleheader.

Eddie Gaedel was the first — and only — midget (little person) to ever appear in a Major League ballgame.

More facts from the Baseball Almanac

On September 2, 1951, Eddie Gaedel was arrested in Cincinnati for screaming obscenities. He attempted to convince the policeman he was a big league player. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on a $25 bond.

When Eddie Gaedel was laid to rest only one former major league ballplayer was in attendance. It was Bob Cain — the pitcher who walked him — who said, “I never even met him but I felt obligated to go. It kind of threw me for a loop that no other baseball people were there.”

“I didn’t know whether to throw the ball underhanded or overhanded to Gaedel,” Bob Cain later told sportswriter Danny Peary. “I just wanted to be careful not to hit him. Dizzy Trout told me later that if he’d been the pitcher, he’d have thrown the ball right between his eyes.”

A little baseball history…

Today marks the 26th anniversary of the first female astronaut to enter space. Sally Kristen Ride (born May 26, 1951) is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut who, in 1983, became the first American woman and youngest American (at the time) to enter space.

Sally was aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 and again in 1984. (The very first woman in space was the cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who flew aboard Vostok 6 in 1963.) Ride earned a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University in 1978 and joined NASA’s astronaut training program the next year. After the Challenger exploded during a 1986 launch, Ride served on the presidential commission investigating the accident. She retired from the astronaut corps in 1987.

R&B singer Wilson Pickett’s hit tune “Mustang Sally” includes the chorus, “All you want to do is ride around Sally / ride Sally ride.” The connection is coincidental; Pickett recorded the tune in the 1966, after Ride was born but long before she became famous.

From her earliest years in school, Ride was so proficient and efficient at once, she proved to be an outright annoyance to some of her teachers. Though she was a straight-A student, she was easily bored, and her brilliance only came to the fore in high school, when she was introduced to the world of science by her physiology teacher. The impact of this mentor, Dr. Elizabeth Mommaerts, was so profound that Ride would later dedicate her first book primarily to her, as well as the fallen crew of the Challenger.

Video of the Challenger Disaster

Source: Wikipedia – TechJaws

Memorial Day is much more than barbecues and the beginning of summer. To many people, especially the nation’s thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country.

TechJaws would like to thank all of the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces and died for our freedom!

God bless!

N.B. Forrest, as he signed his field communications, was not only the reputed founder (there is evidence both supporting this and NOT) of the KKK . . . and, I would quickly add that the KKK then was very unlike the one that we detested in the 20th century . . . but a rather controversial character when it came to history’s accounts of his field command days.

Relative to Forrest’s personality, it was at once impulsive and fierce, and yet considered and compassionate.

He was that rare breed of military officer who was both good at fighting and good at administration.  For example, Halleck was a good administrator, but not so good with a fighting will.  Bragg, on the southern side, was bad at both.  Forrest secured the loyalty of his troops not only with his leadership skills in battle, but also with his commissary skills in camp.

But the public knows only the fiery tempered Forrest.  One story that reinforces that is his clash with Bragg.  Frustrated by Bragg’s repeated incompetence in executing a battle plan, Forrest finally supposedly said something like “If you ever cross my path again, I’ll kill you”.  If indeed he ever said something like that, it’s also telling that Bragg never court-martialed him for insubordination.

Another example of his fiery displays in battle, was the fact that he was often in the front of his troops (like all good leaders), and exhorted them with “C’mon boys, let’s put the skeer in ‘em”, with that trademark rebel yell of the troops.  While Forrest didn’t mangle the language as much as to have said “Git there fust with the mostest”, he did speak and write in the vernacular of the southerner at that time . . . hence “skeer”.

(Speaking of the famous rebel yell, there is an account of a southerner after the war telling someone about it.  He said that the rebel yell can only be done correctly at a full out run and while facing superior numbers.)

Back to Forrest’s contradictions in severe temper outbursts and compassion (McCain??).  Another example . . . one of his subordinate lieutenants came after him with a knife (for a perceived slight by Forrest), and succeeded in thrusting the thing in Forrest’s gut.  Reeling, Forrest drew his pistol and shot the guy.  The guy eventually died of that gunshot wound, but before he did, Forrest came to his deathbed and apologized.  Apparently, it was quite a scene with the two antagonists reconciling.

Forrest not only had some deserters executed by firing squad, he also pardoned some.

And that alleged massacre at Fort Pillow had a lot of controversial evidence, not the least of which was that Forrest . . . wasn’t even there that day!!!!  Some of the Union testimony actually disputed that there even was a massacre.  It centered around whether there was a white flag of truce hoisted by Forrest’s troops.  There were some Union gunboats coming down the nearby river (can’t remember which river it was) that apparently fired on the Confederates.  Thinking that the white flag of truce wasn’t being honored, the Confederate troops opened up on the fort again.  Additionally, the fort construction was such that some of the Union troops down by the river bank (trying to meet the gunboats) didn’t think that the Union troops within the fort had surrendered because they could only see the Union flag waving over the fort.  Consequently, they kept firing.  So, the Confederates, believing that both their flag of truce and the fort surrender were being violated, resumed the battle . . . admittedly with prejudice and anger.  There probably was some sort of massacre, but Forrest himself stopped it when he got there (the testimony of both the Union and Confederate soldiers is unanimous on that point).

But the idea of such a massacre was so much of a Union propaganda boost, that it was perpetuated by the Union for the rest of the war.  And Forrest, to this day, still gets credited for it.

Speaking of white flags, the use of that (not for a massacre) was one of Forrest’s favorite tactics.  Frequently, when he was confronted by superior numbers (which was almost always the case), he’d send a message into the Union lines under flag of truce, saying that a surrender (of the Union, of course) would prevent “needless effusion of blood”.  Because of his ferocious reputation . . . no doubt enhanced by the Union’s own propaganda on Fort Pillow . . . very often the Union commander would surrender without a fight.

Another favorite tactic of his was to march the same troops in and out of sight of the Union, thus giving the appearance of superior numbers.  That, coupled with his fierce reputation and the “needless effusion of blood” message, was enough to get a lot of Union commanders to surrender.

Another Forrest trait was selfless dedication to the cause.  This was exemplified by the fact that he raised several regiments throughout the war, only to have them reassigned to another theater under another commander, and he was reduced to raising another new regiment for himself . . . several times.  He did this without complaint.  What makes it more dramatic is that they were equipped through the expenditure of his own money.  Most of us would certainly object strenuously if money (our own) we spent to equip troops was later squandered by the foolish deployment elsewhere of those troops . . . without us.  (Those foolish deployments made by no less a figure than President Jefferson Davis, a micromanager and a bad tactician).

Forrest was wounded several times, but never fatally.  On the other hand, he had more than a dozen horses shot out from under him.  His favorite horse, King Philip, who survived the war, even after the war was over would go into a dramatic charge, riderless and snorting, whenever he saw someone in blue.

When Forrest was trying to come to the rescue of Hood at Franklin, he encountered some gunboats commanded by Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, the Union commander of naval operations in the Mississippi valley.  I mention this because, in one of the many ironies of the Civil War, Admiral Lee was a cousin of Robert E. Lee.

In another one of those ironies, Hood went up against George H. Thomas at Nashville/Franklin.  Thomas had been Hood’s immediate superior as a Major in the 2nd Cavalry before the war.  Hood was a Captain.  And also in that 2nd Cavalry was Robert E. Lee, who was a Lieutenant Colonel, and Albert Sydney Johnston, who was a Colonel for the 2nd Cavalry (commanding, I think . . . and I think the 2nd Cav was headquartered in Texas).

I’ve never read anything, either anecdotal or factual, that indicated he was anything other than . . . humorless.  So, I wouldn’t want to have joked around with him.

A lot of his story is anecdotal and probably exaggerated, but if only a small percentage of it is true, the guy was certainly a character. Like him or not.

If you were alive 58 million years ago you would be. This snake would make the Boa look like a worm in comparison.

Scientists are reporting the discovery of the fossilized remains of the largest snake ever recorded — a 42-foot behemoth weighing more than a ton, according to an analysis in today’s issue of the journal Nature. By studying fossilized sections of the snake’s remains, scientists were able to estimate the size of the crocodile-consuming boa.

The study says Titanoboa was the largest non-marine vertebrate from the epoch following the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and “greatly exceeds the largest verifiable body lengths” of the largest known Python (approximately 29.53 feet) or Eunectes, a species of which the Anaconda is a part, (22.97 feet). The newly recognized species, Titanoboa is a relative of the modern day Anaconda, a non venomous snake inhabiting fresh water rivers in Central and South America and preying on carnivores it crushes with powerful muscles — or pulls under water and drowns. A meal is satisfied with one long gulp.

The vertebra of Titanoboa were found in a large coal mine in northeastern Colombia, an area the researchers report is the oldest known rainforest in the Americas.

Source: USA Today

TechJaws is a technology news site aimed at the general public, particularly at the technology-enthusiast, but today we are mixing it up little. This blog comes from Janet T, our first guest post. We hope you enjoy this post and share your comments.

What is a tattoo? A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Other types of tattoos include Henna Art from Henna Artisans. Henna tattoos are also known as Mehndi. It is an ancient Indian body art. Used in creating intricate ethnic or contemporary designs and exotic patterns on various parts of the body. It’s rationally applied to the hand and the feet of women. Henna is completely natural, non-permanent and painless.

Once a taboo practice largely confined to sailors and street hoodlums, tattooing has evolved into a highly prized fashion product. Tattooing doesn’t discriminate as it’s popular among all types of people.

The word “tattoo” is from the Samoan word tatau, meaning “open wound”. Englishmen mispronounced the word tatau and borrowed it into popular usage as tattoo. Sailors on the voyage later introduced both the word and reintroduced the concept of tattooing to Europe.

Tattoos are no longer just an art. People of all ages and from all over the world have their own meaning in tattoos. They were once associated with gangs, now in this modern age tattoos are done between friends sharing common bonds and by individuals expressing their own uniqueness.

Early Beginnings:

Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times. Ötzi the Iceman, dating from the fourth to fifth millennium BCE, was found in the Ötz valley in the Alps and had approximately 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle.

Tattooing in Japan is thought to go back to the Paleolithic era, some ten thousand years ago. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.

Tattooing in the Western world today has its origins in Polynesia, and in the discovery of tatau by eighteenth century explorers. The Polynesian practice became popular among European sailors, before spreading to Western societies generally.

Body art has become more popular trend today that there’s a reality show based on body art called: Miami Ink.

http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/miami-ink/miami-ink.html

Advice:

Never get a tattoo that displays the name of your significant other as tattoos are permanent and not all relationships are. This could be very costly to remove with cosmetic surgery.

It wasn’t Al Gore who invented the internet, in fact he didn’t know what the internet was until around 1992.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is where it all began in March 1989. A physicist, Tim Berners-Lee, wrote a proposal for information management showing how information could be transferred easily over the Internet by using hypertext, the now familiar point-and-click system of navigating through information. The following year, Robert Cailliau, a systems engineer, joined in and soon became its number one advocate.

The idea was to connect hypertext with the Internet and personal computers, thereby having a single information network to help CERN physicists share all the computer-stored information at the laboratory.

What did the first web page look like? It really doesn’t look like much other than some content with hyperlinks. See below.

Click here to see the actual page.

Here are other popular pages from their earliest days:

Yahoo (10/1996) – http://web.archive.org/web/19961017235908/http://www2.yahoo.com/

Microsoft (10/1996) – http://web.archive.org/web/19961020014044/http://www.microsoft.com/

AOL (12/1996) – http://web.archive.org/web/19961220154856/http://www.aol.com/

The internet has come along way in just 20 years, and I am sure we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.