10 Black Inventors From The Last 100 Years [PHOTOS]
Late 1960s — Rufus Stokes was born in Alabama in 1922. He joined the army right out of high school, and by 1949 landed a job with an a Chicago incinerator company, Brule Inc. Stokes is believed to have helped in, but never received credit for, the company’s incinerator designs, which is why he reportedly quit. Inspired by the Windy City’s poor air quality, Stokes invented an air purification device to reduce emissions from furnaces and power plants.Stokes received a patent for the invention in 1968.
He died in 1982 from mesothelioma, an asbestos-related rare cancer.