The son of freed slaves, Garrett Morgan was determined to have a better life than labouring in the Kentucky fields. In 1911, 146 workers died in the shocking Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, so Garrett invented a safety hood for firefighters. People were reluctant to buy an invention by a black man - but an explosion that trapped workers in a tunnel under Lake Erie soon changed all that. Garrett's hoods were rushed to the scene and used to rescue as many men as possible. Garrett's invention later saved thousands of soldiers from chlorine gas in the trenches of World War I.
