Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, (died Queens, New York, on December 11, 1928) Latimore was an Engineer, inventor & Patton draftsman best known for inventing & patenting of, the light bulb, the telephone, air conditioners & railroad cart bathrooms Latimer was the youngest of four children born to George and Rebecca Latimer, who had escaped from slavery in Virginia six years before his birth. Captured in Boston and brought to trial as a fugitive, George Latimer was defended by abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. He was eventually able to purchase his freedom, with the help of a local minister, and began raising a family with Rebecca in nearby Chelsea. George disappeared shortly after the Dred Scott decision in 1857, possibly fearing a return to slavery and the South. He lied about his age & joined the war at age 16 but was discharged, then accepted a position at a Patton firm. He taught himself mechanical drawing and drafting, the firm partners promoted him from office boy to draftsman. , Latimer designed a number of his own inventions, including an improved railroad car bathroom and an early air conditioning unit. Latimer is also responsible for incandescent lighting, a particularly competitive field, Over the course of his career as a draftsman, in addition to patenting & designing his own inventions, he was the chief patten'er and draftsman for, Thomas Edison, & Alexander Graham Bell, all whom took many of his Patton's & inventions and put their names on them.