Thomas L Jennings passed away in his beloved New York City on February 12, 1856, at the age of 65. Though he may have been forgotten in the annals of mainstream history for a time, ...

Thomas L. Jennings is the first known African American man to receive a patent awarded to him on March 3, 1821. He discovered the “dry scouring” method of cleaning clothes, the forerunner to ...

Thomas L. Jennings is the first Black individual to be granted a patent in the United States, according to the National Geographic. Jennings, born in 1791 to a freed family in New York City, NY ...

Exactly 203 years ago on March 3, 1821, Thomas L. Jennings- the first Black person in American history to receive a patent- attained one for inventing something called “dry scouring,” ...