The 25 Most Important Black Tech Pioneers

Take a look back at the black inventors who helped shaped American history.

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Complex Original

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Intro

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Benjamin Banneker

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Ronald Demon

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Lonnie Johnson

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Benjamin Bradley

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Norbert

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Andrew Jackson

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Lewis Howard Latimer

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MG

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Jan Ernst Matzeliger

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Garrett Morgan

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Granville T. Woods

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David N. Crosthwait

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14. David N. Crosthwait, Jr. (1898-1976)

Notable inventions: Heating systems for huge buildings, vacuum pump, automobile turn signal, and thermostat control

An expert in central air conditioning and heat ventilation systems, Crosthwait took his knowledge of electrical engineering and built everything from vacuum pumps to temperature regulating devices. He would go on to accomplish one of the biggest feats of any 20th century inventor—creating the heating systems for Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Someone was in an empire state of mind.

Roscoe L. Koontz

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Frederick McKinley

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Alexander Miles

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Otis Boykin

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Henry Blair

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Richard Spikes

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Elijah McCoy

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John Henry Thompson

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Kenneth J. Dunkley

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Henry Sampson

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George R. Carruthers

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James Edward West

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Mark Dean

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