#15: Alexander Miles – Automatic Elevator Doors
Have you ever been in an old building and had to take what felt like an ancient elevator a few floors up? Even though they are said to be safe, there is something about manually having to close elevator doors that is a serious safety hazard. After having a rather frightening experience with his daughter in an elevator, Alexander Miles decided to do something about it.

African American barber and inventor Alexander Miles saw to it that people wouldn’t find themselves falling down elevator shafts and designed the first-ever automatic elevator doors. In 1887, he was awarded a patent for his incredible invention and went on to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame many years later in 2007.