Elijah McCoy

When Elijah finished school, he took a job in Michigan. He worked on a train. One of his jobs was to oil the wheels. Every few miles, the train would have to stop and Elijah would jump off and oil the wheels. He thought that there must be a better way. In 1872, he invented a cup that would drip oil when and where it was needed while the train was still moving.

His idea was so successful, other people tried to copy it, but most companies wanted Elijah McCoy's invention. They asked for "the Real McCoy" and we still use that expression today when we want "the real thing."

When Elijah's wife wanted an easier way to iron clothes, Elijah invented a portable ironing board. When Elijah got tired of lugging around hoses to water his lawn, he invented the lawn sprinkler. Altogether, Elijah McCoy received patents for 57 different  kinds of devices and machine parts.

He died in 1929.

Information from: www.blackinventor.com and http://www.princeton.edu/~mcbrown/display/mccoy.html

P. B. Dowling

We do not know much about P. B. Dowling. We do not even know when he was born or when he died, but the mail box he invented is still in use today.

In 1891, if you wanted to mail a letter you had to walk all the way to the post office or find a messenger to take your letter. Mr. Dowling designed a metal box on legs. When you opened it to put in your letter, there was a metal plate that went part way over the opening so that the contents were protected. You could slip your letter in but could not pull other letters out. He called his invention a street letter box and received a patent for it on October 27, 1891.

Mr. Dowling also invented a switch for railroads. Workers could shut off power to trains at appropriate times. Years later, people would use Mr. Dowling's switch as a model to develop electric light switches.

Information from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmail and http://mindstation.com/bios.html#Downing