black history month: Lewis Latimer

We think of Edison as inventing the incandescent light bulb and Bell as inventing the telephone, but those inventions, and others, wouldn't be what they are today, without Lewis Latimer.

An inventor and engineer, Lewis Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848. He collaborated with science greats Hiram Maxim and Thomas Edison.

He was a member of Edison's research team, which was called "Edison's Pioneers." Latimer improved the newly invented light bulb by inventing carbon filaments. His inventions didn’t stop there, working with Alexander Graham Bell, Latimer helped draft the patent for Bell’s design of the telephone. This genius also designed an improved railroad car bathroom and an early air conditioning unit.

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