Granville T. Woods -- USA

Granville T. Woods, an African-American inventor who held more than 50 patents, most of his work was connected with the railway and street cars.  He invented the Multiplex Telegraph, a device that sent messages between train stations and moving trains. Born in Columbus, Ohio, on 23 April 1856, Granville T. Woods dedicated his life to developing a variety of inventions relating to the railroad industry, and he was often referred to as the "Black Thomas Edison"

Attending school in Columbus until age 10, he then served an apprenticeship in a machine shop and learned the trades of machinist and blacksmith.  Intrigued by the electricity and machinery, Woods observed other workers as they attended to different pieces of equipment and, would pay some workers to explain electrical concepts to him.  

Although he had to leave school at an early age, Woods realised that learning and education were essential to developing critical skills that would allow him to express his creativity with machinery. During his youth he went to night school, and took private lessons, in 1872 Woods obtained a job as a fireman on the Danville and Southern Railroad in Nebraska, eventually becoming an engineer and studying electronics in his spare time.  He moved around, and worked in rolling mills and railroads, during 1878, he took a job aboard, a British steamer, and, within two years, became Chief Engineer. Two years later he obtained employment with D & S Railroads, however, despite his high aptitude, education and expertise, Woods was denied opportunities and promotions because of the of his colour. 

Out of frustration and a desire to promote his abilities, Woods, and his brother Lyates, formed the Woods Railway Telegraph Company in 1884.  The company manufactured and sold telephone, telegraph and electrical equipment, early inventions from the company were an improved steam boiler furnace followed by an improved telephone transmitter with superior sound quality and a longer transmission distance.

In 1885, Woods patented an apparatus that was a combination of a telephone and a telegraph.  The device, which he called "telegraphony", would allow a telegraph station to send voice and telegraph messages over a single wire.  It was so successful that he later sold the device rights to the American Bell Telephone Company.  In 1987, Woods developed his most important invention that he called a Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph. This would allow railway stations to send and receive messages from moving trains, allowing dispatchers to know the location of each train, increasing efficiency and safety.

Woods made several challenge and defences of patent rights when others lay claim to his devices and Thomas Edison made such a claim, stating that he had first created a similar telegraph and that he was entitled to the patent for the device. Woods was twice successful in defending himself, proving that there were no other devices upon which he could have depended or relied to make his device. After the second defeat, Edison decided that it would be better to work with Granville Woods than against him, and offered him a position with the Edison Company.  Granville Woods obtained more than 50 patents, including an automatic brake, and an egg incubator, and for improvements to other inventions such as safety circuits, telegraph, telephone, and phonograph.  By the time of his death in 1910, Woods had made a successful career as an engineer and inventor, admired and respected, having sold a number of his devices to Westinghouse, General Electric and American Engineering.