In 1884, Granville T. Woods - the prolific black American inventor - was issued his first patent. This covered his innovation for a “Steam Boiler Furnace” (U.S. No. 299,894). He continued inventing for over 20 more years and received several dozen more patents, many of which were related to railroad equipment controls and communication. Woods also patented an egg incubator for 50,000 eggs. Perhaps his most important invention was the “Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph” (1887) which he designed for the purpose of making rail travel safer. It averted accidents by keeping each train informed of the whereabouts of the one immediately ahead or following it, and in communicating with the stations from moving trains. Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation, by Rayvon Fouche. - book suggestion.