Eniola Shokunbi, 12, is on a mission to clear the air in her classroom. The middle school's invention secured a $11.5 million grant.
Disney research fellow and "Imagineer" Lanny Smoot made Black history when he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
![Workers at the U.S. Patent Office, [Washington, D.C.] ca. between 1918 and 1928](https://newsone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2023/02/16757747805404.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1024&crop=0,0,100,742px)
Despite patents being largely out of reach to slaves and free African Americans throughout early U.S. history, they both still invented and innovated.
The annual George Washington Carver Day draws attention to the rich history of other brilliant African American inventors who have been contributing to the fields of science, mechanics, business, recreation and more for centuries.
