Otis Boykin invented electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers and pacemakers. He would receive almost a dozen patents over his lifetime.
- Matthew Alexander Henson (1866-1955)
Henson was the son of free-born tenant farmers, but his early life was difficult. He started his life as an explorer at the age of eleven when he ran away from an abusive home. In 1891, Henson went with Robert Peary on the first of several trips to Greenland. Peary was determined to find the geographic North Pole. In 1909, Peary and Henson went on what was to be their final trip, the one on which they reached the North Pole. Henson was actually the first to set foot on the North Pole, but when the two returned home, it was Peary who received all the credit. Because he was Black, Henson was virtually ignored.
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