Had Granville T. Woods been allowed to focus on his work—and pay less attention to lawsuits—who knows how many more inventions he’d have to his name? The Black American inventor, born in Ohio in 1856, secured more than 60 patents before he died in 1910, at the age of 53. His output ranged from egg incubators to enhancements for telephones and phonographs, though he is now best known for his work on railway systems and transportation safety. In 2004, during the New York City Subway’s centennial year, commemorative MetroCards stated…
