On this day in 1871, African American inventor Landrow Bell was granted a U.S. patent Patent #115,153 for an innovative locomotive smoke stack design. His invention improved the exhaust system of steam-powered locomotives, contributing to the efficiency and safety of railway transportation. Bell’s achievement is one of many examples of Black ingenuity during the post-Civil War era, a time when African Americans were actively shaping the industrial age despite intense social and legal barriers.
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