Lonnie Johnson was born in 1950. He is black. When he was in high school he took a test that he did not do well on.  He was told that he was not smart enough to be an engineer. He was told that he should be a technician instead.  He did not listen. When he was 18 he won a national inventing contest for a robot that he invented. He went to Tuskegee University and got his B.S in mechanical engineering. He later received an M.S. in nuclear engineering. My inventor worked for NASA as an aerospace engineer.  My inventor’s hobbies were tinkering with appliances.  He liked to build things out of junk. He had children and a wife. He is still alive and lives in Marietta, Georgia.  

     My inventor has over 40 patents for all of the inventions that he has invented.  His most famous invention is the Super Soaker. The Super Soaker is a safe but high pressured water pistol that shoots water up to 50 feet.  He made this invention in 1990. The Super Soaker was a mistake.  He was trying to make a heat pump for NASA but when he put a nozzle on his sink the water shot out so fast that he thought "wouldn’t that make a great water gun." He never went back to invent the Super Soaker until 7 years later. His materials were a rough design, an empty soda bottle and a piece of pipe.  He had help from a friend, Bruce D. Andrade. He had a patent for his invention. He got a patent for the Super Soaker in 1991. He became rich and famous. On February 25 his home town created Lonnie Johnson Day.  Johnson has generated over  $200 million in sales with his Super Soaker. He visits schools and tells children, “Don’t give up.”