That’s Super

Lonnie did.

Lonnie grew up in segregated Mobile, Alabama … where he loved to invent things. His father helped him build his own toys like go-karts … and his mother encouraged him too even though he almost burned down the house cooking up rocket fuel on the stove. Lonnie took apart everything … and just soaked up the knowledge.

When he entered the Alabama State Science Fair he was the only black student … but he won.

Before long Lonnie had both mechanical and nuclear engineering degrees and had joined the Air Force … he worked on developing the Stealth Bomber … and then moved to NASA to help send missions to other worlds.

One day, as he worked on one of his own inventions on the side at home… there was an accident … in his bathtub …his environmentally friendly heat pump prototype using water instead of Freon failed in a spectacular way … and right there Lonnie realized that the accidental result would be much more fun to market then the heat pump. It took 7 more years of effort … but in 1989 Lonnie’s product hit the market, was an immediate hit, and it continues to be a top seller every year.

Today, Lonnie Johnson has over 100 patents and patents pending to his name … for all kinds of cool stuff … but his most famous invention, the one that occurred to him due to an accident in his bath tub … is one that kids of any age appreciate … especially when it really hot outside … the Super Soaker.

The Super Soaker is great idea … sometimes if you aim for a far off goal you just might hit it!