Growing up in Mobile during legal segregation, Lonnie Johnson’s father worked as a civilian driver and his mother sometimes did service jobs. They also picked cotton in the summers. Inspired by Black inventor George Washington Carver, Johnson hoped to become an engineer. He represented his all-Black high school at a state science fair in 1968 with a robot he created. It won the top prize.
Lonnie Johnson’s childhood
Lonnie Johnson was born in 1949 in Mobile, Alabama. His father drove a truck and his mother occasionally worked service jobs. In the summer, they picked cotton on his grandfather’s farm. Johnson’s parents encouraged his interest in engineering, and he began to tinker with appliances at an early age. One of his earliest creations was a pressurized Chinaberry shooter made from bamboo shoots and a lawn mower engine. Later, he attached the engine to a go-kart and raced it along the highway until the police pulled him over.
In high school, Johnson was able to use his ingenuity to win a science fair competition with a robot that he built from scrap metal. He called the robot “Linex.” The robot used compressed air to turn its body and move its arms. Linex won the first prize in the 1968 state science fair. Johnson’s ingenuity helped him secure a math scholarship to Tuskegee University.
After graduating from college, Johnson worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on spacecraft systems that were sent to Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. He also founded several companies that create technology for everything from toys to solar power. Johnson continues to work at his company today and has over 100 patents for his inventions. He has received many accolades for his achievements, including being named one of America’s most influential inventors by Popular Mechanics.
Lonnie Johnson’s inventions
Lonnie Johnson is one of America’s most famous inventors, but his work extends far beyond the Super Soaker water gun. He has worked as an engineer for the Air Force and NASA, earned dozens of patents, and founded companies that are developing revolutionary energy technology. He is also active in mentoring the next generation of scientists, and is a board member of the Georgia Alliance for Children.
Despite growing up in segregated Alabama, Johnson stayed true to his passion for engineering. He attended an all-black high school and graduated from Tuskegee University with a master’s degree in nuclear engineering. After graduating, he went on to serve in the Air Force, working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He spent the majority of his professional career as a rocket scientist, designing spacecraft systems for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
While Johnson was working for the Air Force and NASA, he continued to experiment with his own inventions on the side. He once tore apart his sister’s baby doll to see what made the eyes close, and once nearly burned his mother’s house down trying to cook up rocket fuel in her kitchen.
His most successful invention, the Super Soaker water gun, generated more than $1 billion in sales over its lifetime. Eventually, he sold the rights to Larami Corporation, which was later purchased by Hasbro. He now runs his own Atlanta-based engineering firm and is working on two devices that he hopes will revolutionize electrical power generation and storage.
Lonnie Johnson’s music
Lonnie Johnson was a pioneering blues/jazz guitarist, banjoist and violinist. He was also a talented singer and composer. He was known for his advanced flat-picking technique and influenced many musicians. His most famous song was Tomorrow Night, a popular tune that spent seven weeks at the top of Billboard’s national race records chart. Johnson was also a prolific composer, and he wrote and recorded dozens of songs, both in the blues and jazz styles.
Johnson was an avid experimenter who was fascinated by how things worked. He often pulled apart his sisters’ dolls to see how their eyes closed, and once almost burned down his family’s house trying to create rocket fuel from peanut butter. His love for science and inventions helped him earn a spot in the State of Alabama’s Science Fair.
Although Johnson’s musical career was temporarily stalled by the onset of the Great Depression, he persevered. He worked in a steel mill, toured with blackface minstrel show act Clenn and Jenkins, and made club appearances in Chicago. He also recorded on a number of sessions for Decca and Bluebird Records. He was particularly noted for his innovative tremolo and superior string bending on 1928’s “I’m Not Rough.”
After moving to New York, Lonnie Johnson continued recording for Prestige and other labels. He was a prolific session musician, backing singers such as Luella Miller, Helen Humes and Bertha “Chippie” Hill. He also made a few notable jazz recordings, including a memorable duet with pianist Victoria Spivey on 1947’s Taking It Easy.
Lonnie Johnson’s career
After graduating from Williamson High School, a segregated high school in Mobile, Alabama, Lonnie Johnson went on to Tuskegee University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering. He was one of the only African-American students to compete in an engineering competition at the University of Alabama, where he presented a robot he built from junkyard scraps called “Linex.” Johnson was awarded first place in the contest, which was sponsored by the Junior Engineering Technical Society.
After graduation, Lonnie Johnson worked for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Air Force before moving to NASA’s Jet Propulsion laboratory, where he helped develop cooling systems and other spacecraft technology. He was awarded a number of patents for his work, including a system that used water instead of Freon, a chemical that can damage the environment.
In 1982, Lonnie Johnson was working on a project to develop a heat pump that used water instead of Freon when he had an idea for a water gun. He created a prototype from plexiglass, PVC pipes and a two-liter soda bottle for the water tank. After a seven-year search for a manufacturer, Johnson sold the Super Soaker to Larami, which is now part of Hasbro. Johnson has also patented several other inventions, including an improved home radon detector and a rechargeable battery. He also works to mentor young people and encourages them to pursue careers in science.