1877: Garrett Augustus Morgan is born on March 4 in Paris, Kentucky, the son of former slaves.
1895: Morgan moves to Cleveland, Ohio, where he works as a handyman and janitor while attending school at night.
1907: Morgan invents the gas mask, a device that protects firefighters and other workers from toxic gases.
1914: Morgan founds the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Cleveland.
1916: Morgan is awarded the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor given to African Americans by the NAACP.
1920: Morgan invents the traffic signal, a device that helps to control traffic flow.
1925: Morgan founds the Garrett Morgan School, a private school for African American children in Cleveland.
1928: Morgan is appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to serve on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which later became NASA.
1932: Morgan is the first African American to drive an automobile in the Indianapolis 500 race.
1940: Morgan is awarded the Grand Prize at the World's Fair in New York for his inventions.
1963: Garrett Morgan dies on July 27 at the age of 86.
1988: Morgan is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.