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

Valerie Thomas overcame the then-popular belief that women were not destined for scientific careers when she majored in physics at Morgan State University. She went on to work at NASA in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, she invented the illusion transmitter, a device that creates the impression of 3D images, which was subsequently used in NASA's image delivery system.