The Untold Story of the Man Who Called Himself the “Black Edison”

(via Popular Mechanics)  It’s 3 AM on July 25, 1916, and Garrett Morgan’s phone rings. The voice on the other end tells him there’s been a natural gas explosion in a waterworks tunnel about four miles off Cleveland’s shoreline and 120 feet below Lake Erie’s surface. Many men are trapped and likely dead from smoke inhalation, including several initial rescue crews. Morgan may be the survivors’ only hope. The reason: a little invention called the Morgan National Safety Hood.