Two weeks ago, Curious Minds featured a dramatic story… about platypuses.
When I discovered the story, I thought it was so interesting that I told my 10-year-old daughter about it as we were walking home from school that day.
She did not seem to find it as interesting as I did, and looked at me with a solemn expression on her face.
“That’s a really sad story, Mom,” she said earnestly.
“If people reading your story like animals, that might make them feel sad.”
Yikes.
That was not the reaction I was going for.
So I decided I needed a really happy story to counteract that — and luckily, a trip to a local school gave me just the inspiration I needed.
While I was on a tour at a secondary school in London, I noticed a bulletin board about inventors.
Along with the usual suspects of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, I saw a picture and name I didn’t recognize.
Who was Lonnie Johnson — and what did he invent?
I was curious…
You may not recognize the name Lonnie Johnson, but you probably know one of his inventions.
Let’s dig in…
Lonnie Johnson was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1949.
And from an early age, he liked to “tinker” with things around the house.
His tinkering got him into some early mishaps, like the time he was making rocket fuel on top of the stove.
“It ignited and could have nearly burned the house down,” he said.
But his parents supported his curiosity, and instead of punishing him, they bought him a hot plate.
“They said, ‘Do that kind of stuff outside’.”
“My parents were really patient.
“They bought me a lot of toys and things, knowing the first thing I would do is take them apart.”
By the time he was a teenager, Lonnie had earned the nickname “The Professor” from his friends at the all-black Williamson High School he attended in Mobile.
While still in high school, “The Professor” began building a robot from junkyard scraps.
“I was in the eleventh grade, and it took me about a year to build it.
“He was three-and-a-half feet tall, had shoulders that could rotate and two arms with elbows and wrists that swiveled.”
“He could pivot and move around on wheels.
“I knew I wanted to put him in a science fair.”
He entered his robot – “The Linex” – in a science fair hosted by the University of Alabama.
And Lonnie, the only Black entrant, won first place.
Lonnie and his invention, The Linex
“Taking first place in that competition meant a lot to me.
“I was very aware that just a few years earlier Governor Wallace had stood in the door at that very university and said no Black students would attend.”
“When you have this sense of purpose, you can be driven to push yourself, and even take risks that you otherwise wouldn’t take because sometimes bringing about change is important.”
After graduating from high school, Lonnie went on to earn a BS degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Tuskegee University in Alabama.
After finishing his studies, he began working as a research engineer with the US Air Force – and it wasn’t long before “The Professor” had his first patent.
The invention was called the “Digital Distance Measuring Instrument” — and was an early version of DVD-reading technology.
“I call it the big fish that got away because I was enjoying my day job so much.
“I was really doing it just for fun and didn’t pursue it commercially.”
In 1979, Lonnie moved on to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working as a senior systems engineer on the Galileo mission to Jupiter.
Lonnie and his colleagues at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
And one evening, Lonnie’s curiosity had him thinking about how to solve a problem at work.
“There was a great deal of concern about the impact that Freon was having in the environment,” he said.
“I thought to myself, what could be better working fluid than water, instead of using Freon as a refrigerant.”
Lonnie started “tinkering” – and it led him to another idea.
“I had this nozzle connected to the faucet in the bathroom sink, and I shot this stream of water across the bathroom,” he said.
“And it was so satisfying, I thought, ‘Geez – a high-performance water gun would be a lot of fun!’”
And in that moment, an idea began to grow…
“In reality, we’re all all inventors. We all have creative minds and I think some of us are focused on tapping into that more so than others.” - Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie returned to the Air Force in 1982, to work on the stealth bomber program – but decided to pursue his high-performance water gun because it would “generate some revenue and pay for the costs of other things” he wanted to do.
“I enjoyed my professional career with NASA and the Air Force, but I also got to the point where these projects were going to go forward whether I worked on them or not, because these were national missions.
“I wanted to individually feel like I could make a difference.”
And in his free time, Lonnie kept tinkering on his water gun.
He made a prototype from Plexiglas, PVC pipe, O-ring seats and a two-liter soda bottle.
Lonnie Johnson and his prototype “Squirt Gun”
“That’s one of the advantages of being an inventor and tinkerer.
“I have everything I need to make what I need.”
The prototype could shoot water nearly 40 feet.
In May of 1986, he received a patent for his invention, which he simply called “Squirt Gun.”
He described his invention in the filing abstract:
“The squirt gun includes a nozzle for ejecting water at high velocity, a pressurization pump for compressing air into the gun to pressurize water contained therein, and a trigger actuated flow control valve for shooting the gun by controlling flow of pressurized water through the nozzle.”
“A battery powered oscillator circuit and a water flow powered sound generator produce futuristic space ray gun sound effects when the gun is shooting.”
Although he had a working prototype and a patent, Lonnie still struggled to get his invention to market.
Manufacturing the gun himself proved to be too costly, so Lonnie began searching for a production partner.
After many false starts and rejections, the Philadelphia-based toy company Larami showed interest, and Lonnie went to the City of Brotherly Love to make his pitch.
“I took the gun out of my suitcase,” he said.
“They asked if it worked – and I shot water across the conference room.”
A deal was struck, and Larami introduced Lonnie’s new water gun to the market in 1990 – as the “Power Drencher.”
But someone claimed rights to the name “Drencher” and demanded royalties, so Lonnie’s squirt gun was rebranded …as the Super Soaker.
And the Super Soakers flew off the shelves.
They had more than $200 million in sales in 1991, and in 1992, Lonnie’s Super Soaker was the top-selling toy in the world.
Lonnie poses with his patent and invention in 1992 (Getty Images)
After the success of the Super Soaker, toy giant Hasbro (who had previously rejected Lonnie’s idea for the squirt gun) bought Larami.
Lonnie Johnson would go on to help the company design and develop the popular foam dart gun, the Nerf blaster.
“Super Soaker sales have literally been in the billions.
“I became the king of all toy guns at one point, so I had achieved my goal or my vision.”
But despite this success, Lonnie Johnson didn’t slow down.
“With the success of the toys, I’ve been able to refocus on my long-term interest, which is energy.”
He started his own engineering firm, and now has two companies that are developing revolutionary energy technology.
“Imagine driving a car cross-country on a single charge. That’s what we hope to achieve with technology.”
Lonnie has more than 100 patents to his name, and has mentored and inspired a new generation of scientists, with a special focus on young people of color.
So how does a tinkerer like Lonnie go from being a rocket scientist to a successful inventor?
“The word is perseverance,” Lonnie offered.
“Because that really is the one thing that makes a difference.”
Enough of the Ghosting — It may be more common these days, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK.
Communication Wonders & Blunders — Find out which communication moments from CEOs, politicians, entertainers, and companies caught my attention in January — and what we can learn from them.
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I loved this NOT a really sad story! Your daughter will be happy.
NO WAY