science · 20 November 1923 · 101 years ago
In 1923, African-American Garrett Morgan (1877-1963) patented an automatic traffic signal. He later sold the technology for the Morgan traffic signal to General Electric Corporation for $40,000. His invention came after he had seen an automobile crash into a horse-drawn carriage. Morgan was distressed by that traffic accident, and so he developed a new way to make streets safer for motorists and pedestrians.
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