14 Lesser-Known Black Americans Who Changed Our Country For the Better

Norbert Rillieux was born into a wealthy Creole family in Louisiana, and thus received a level of education that was unusual for many black people at the time, even studying engineering in Paris. He developed a system known as the multiple effect evaporator (pictured here) for making the cane sugar refining process safer and more efficient with less waste and danger to workers. He later adapted the system to beet sugar refining.