Q 01/05

Garrett Morgan's safety hood is often called a forerunner of which piece of World War I soldiers' kit?

A) The gas mask

B) The steel helmet

C) The trench periscope

D) The field telephone

Answer · why

A) The gas mask

The gas mask that soldiers carried in World War I had a forerunner in Morgan's hood, which he patented in 1914 and first sold to fire departments.

Q 02/05

What was Garrett Morgan reportedly still wearing when he reached the 1916 Cleveland tunnel disaster at night?

A) A work apron

B) Church clothes

C) Pajamas

D) A raincoat

Answer · why

C) Pajamas

Pajamas were all Morgan had on after a messenger woke him in the middle of the night. He still arrived carrying four of his safety hoods.

Q 03/05

Which company paid Garrett Morgan $40,000 for the rights to his 1923 traffic signal design?

A) Westinghouse

B) General Electric

C) Ford Motor Company

D) Western Electric

Answer · why

B) General Electric

General Electric bought the rights and went on to build an electric version of Morgan's three-position signal.

Q 04/05

A liquid Garrett Morgan was testing to stop sewing needles scorching cloth turned out to do what?

A) Straighten hair

B) Remove rust stains

C) Waterproof leather

D) Bleach fabric

Answer · why

A) Straighten hair

Straighten hair is what the liquid did, by accident. Morgan turned it into a cream and built a hair-care company whose profits paid for his later inve...

Q 05/05

Whom did Garrett Morgan hire to pose as the inventor when selling his safety hood in the segregated South?

A) A retired fire chief

B) A college professor

C) An actor

D) An army officer

Answer · why

C) An actor

An actor who was white fronted the sales pitch, because many buyers would not purchase from a Black inventor. Morgan played the assistant who walked i...