February is African American History Month. Celebrate by browsing the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on African American scientists, engineers & inventors and our computing and engineering diversity websites. Readers interested in inventions by African Americans may want to view the following blogs: Martin Luther King Day (January 20),  Ice cream scoop invented (February 2),  First patent [...]

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Today in History – February 2, 1897 – Ice cream scoop patented by Alfred L. Cralle, the first African-American in Pittsburgh to receive a patent. His patent became the model for ice cream scoops in households soon after and the basis for many scoops today. Cralle was born in Lunenberg County, Virginia on September 4, [...]

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January 20, 1986 – First federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King. Through fifteen years of the persistent efforts of Congress Members John Conyers (Michigan), Shirley Chisholm (New York) and an army of other supports, Martin Luther King Day legislation was passed in 1983. A number of changes were required for it to be acceptable as [...]

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Today is Martin Luther King Day. The first one was on January 20, 1986 as a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King. Through fifteen years of the persistent efforts of Congress Members John Conyers (Michigan), Shirley Chisholm (New York) and an army of other supports, Martin Luther King Day legislation was passed in 1983. A [...]

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Today in History – December 23, 1867 – Birth of first self-made millionairess (Sarah Breedlove for hair straightener invention, products and services). Born in poverty in 1867 (left graphic is of her birth house) on the shores of the Mississippi River in northeast Louisiana, her parents died of ‘yellow fever‘ while she was a young [...]

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