The Self-Taught Engineer Who Gave Us Cartridge Gaming Consoles

We're taught in school that the most important inventions created by Black people are peanut butter, blood banks and the sidewalk mailbox, but the history books continue to overlook a more recent yet equally important contributor- Jerry Lawson.

Jerry was a self-taught engineer who gave us one of the greatest, and most fun, technological leaps forward in human history- the video game console.

While working as head of engineering and marketing at Fairchild Semiconductor in the mid-70s Jerry created the Fairchild Channel F gaming console, the first cartridge-based console, which was released in 1976.

The Channel F had interchangeable cartridges so players could expand their library with new games, before that gaming "consoles" were stuck playing the one game programmed directly into the hardware.

Jerry Lawson's legacy was overshadowed by big names like Atari and Coleco, but Jerry truly deserves to be seen as one of the most important Black inventors of all time for his contribution to our entertainment lovin' lives.

-Via Endgadget