Granville T. Woods, a prolific African American inventor known as “the Black Edison,” was granted a patent for his Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph on this day in 1887. The device allowed trains to communicate with stations and other trains while in motion, vastly improving railroad safety and efficiency. This invention laid groundwork for modern wireless communication systems.
Woods held more than 50 patents over his lifetime, many related to electrical systems and railways, and was a key figure in the development of 19th-century technology.
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