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Originally Posted by mrgagentleman
I thought Rush Limbaugh was funny.
Xray, you take the cake.
You say that you don't respond to posts such as the one where I began by saying "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!", yet that very post was a spin-off to this entire thread.
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You must not have noticed.
A mod specifically requested that talk of black history in the USA be started in another thread.
It had nothing to do with your juvenile banter.
Quote:
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You call me, in substance, immature, by starting off my comment by laughing (and yes, if you were to say some of the ignorant things you have said to my face, I would definitely laugh, right in your face)
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See, you kill any possible credibility you may have with shit like that, I'm not even going to read a word of what you have to say after that, much less respond.
You are like a little bitch, you have to start everything you say with wise ass comments.
You don't know that you'd laugh in my face, my feeling is you would have problems even making eye contact, much less instigate a fight.
Now, if you want to try again as an adult, which I am assuming you are, maybe not ,,, Lets try to keep this condensed, civil and to the point.
You said that "black slaves built America.
Do you still stand by that ?
Do you have anything else to reinforce this contention, other than they allegedly brought rice growing knowledge to the USA, and engaged in piracy ?
edit: unavoidably noticed your last sentence - So predictable.
I knew it was a matter of time before all the great black invention myths were spun out - First and foremost, the traffic light.
Of course !
Next, peanut butter, the door knob, ice cream scoops and refrigerators.
Heard your spin all too many times before, and stand ready to demolish anything you'd care to copy & paste.
In early 1922, African-American inventor Garrett Augustus Morgan designed a cross-shaped traffic signal, for which he submitted a patent application on February 27 of that year. The patent — which was not even among the first 50 traffic signal patents issued in the United States — was granted on November 20, 1923. For whatever reason, numerous writers and public figures have credited Morgan with inventing any or all of the following:
* world's first traffic signal
* first traffic signal to earn a patent
* first automatic traffic signal
* first traffic signal with a third "all-directional stop" phase
* first signal with a yellow light phase
* the basis for modern traffic signal systems
None of these claims are even remotely true, as rest of this page shows.
Some notable early signals, prior to Morgan's 1922 invention
London, 1868
1868 London signal, designed by J.P. Knight
The first known signal device for regulating street traffic was installed in 1868 in London, at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament. Designed by railroad signal engineer JP Knight, it had two semaphore arms which, when extended horizontally, meant "stop"; and when drooped at a 45-degree angle, meant "caution." At night, red and green gas lights accompanied the "stop" and "caution" positions (Sessions 1971; Mueller 1970).
By the signal "caution", all persons in charge of vehicles and horses are warned to pass over the crossing with care and due regard to the safety of foot passengers. The signal "stop" will only be displayed when it is necessary that vehicles and horses shall be actually stopped on each side of the crossing, to allow the passage of persons on foot; notice being thus given to all persons in charge of vehicles and horses to stop clear of the crossing.
Proclamation of Richard Mayne, London Police Commissioner, in 1868; quoted in Mueller 1970
Salt Lake City, about 1912
A contender for "inventor of the first electric traffic light" is Lester Wire of Salt Lake City (Sessions 1971).
Mr. Wire, who died in 1958, was a Salt Lake police officer who invented the first electric traffic light in 1912.... The first hand-made model was a wooden box with a slanted roof so rain and snow would fall off. The lights were colored with red and green dye and shone through circular openings. The box was mounted on a pole, and the wires were attached to the overhead trolley and light wires. It was operated by a policeman. In ensuing years, Mr. Wire improved upon the first model.
"Peak Named for Inventor," Deseret News (Salt Lake City), February 9, 1967
Cleveland, Ohio, 1914
On August 5, 1914, several years before Garrett Morgan invented his T-shaped semaphore-type signal, the American Traffic Signal Company installed red and green traffic lights at each corner of the intersection of 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland (see this 1914 Motorist article documenting the debut of the lights).
The installation was patterned after the design of Cleveland inventor James Hoge (Sessions 1971; Mueller 1970), whose U.S. patent #1,251,666 describes a system of electrically powered stop-go indicators, each mounted on a corner post. In Hoge's design, the signals are wired to a manually operated switch housed inside a control booth, and are electrically interlocked in such a way as to make conflicting signals impossible. Also described in the patent is a system to allow communication between the signal controller and the police and fire departments. The Cleveland installation incorporated all of the above elements in some form or other, plus a bell to warn the drivers of color changes.
William Potts' 4-way, red-yellow-green signals, Detroit, 1920
In October and December of 1920, a Detroit policeman named William Potts constructed several red-yellow-green light signal systems. Some lights were mounted atop "traffic towers" manned by policemen; others were overhead suspension lamps remarkably similar in form to a modern traffic light. The 4-direction traffic lamp pictured below is of the latter type, and is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
An entry in the museum's artifact database describes the item:
The world's first three-color, four-direction, elec. traffic lamp, was installed at the intersection of Woodward Ave. and Fort Street, Detroit, Michigan in October, 1920. It was designed by Superintendent (then inspector) William L. Potts of the Signal Bureau, Detroit Police Department. Basic design remains practically unchanged today. The signal remained in use until 1924 and became a part of the world's first synchronized signal system. This system extended from Jefferson to Adams on Woodward Avenue and was controlled manually from a tower at Woodward and Michigan.
museum archives, Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village (as of Jan 29 2003)
The meanings of the colored lights were essentially the same as today. Green meant "go"; red meant "stop"; and yellow (amber) meant "clear the intersection" (Mueller 1970). An analogous color scheme had been used by the railroads, where as early as 1899, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad introduced a system wherein red, yellow, and green meant "stop", "caution", and "all clear" respectively (Brignano 1981).
For more about Potts and his signals, read this 1947 Motor News article entitled "Mr. Trafficlight".
New York City, early 1920s
In New York City, Dr. John F. Harriss, Special Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of traffic control, organized a system of red, yellow, and green lights to control traffic along Fifth Avenue. The idea reached the experimental stages as early as February 1920 (New York Times, Feb 06 1920). By March of that year, the colored lights were in service ("The Traffic Lights," New York Times, Mar 15 1920).
By January 1922, an interconnected matrix of traffic lights was expanding throughout Manhattan:
Dr. John F. Harriss, Special Deputy Police Commissioner, began experimenting yesterday with powerful signal lights which will be installed from week to week until traffic in most of Manhattan will be simultaneously stopped and started by red, green and yellow lights all operated by a single switch in Times Square.
"To Rule All Traffic from Times Square", New York Times, Jan 05 1922, p.1
The original New York traffic towers were not true four-direction signals like the lights in Detroit. Instead of simultaneously shining different colors in perpendicular directions, the Manhattan signals shone only one color at a time: red for north-south movement (main avenues), yellow for all traffic to stop, and green for east-west movement (side streets). Stationed at each tower was a traffic officer to enforce the signals.
Invention ? Really ? Really ???
At best, an imitation of an already long established and constructed device.
Did black slaves "build the USA" ?
Re: Did black slaves "build the USA" ?
