Notable invention: The Jenny Coupler
Before the Jenny Coupler, railroad cars were manually joined
together. As one of the many railroad workers who lost a limb (his leg)
in a coupling accident, Beard saved many lives with his invention, which
automatically locked two car-bumps together. He patented the device in
1897, the same year Congress created the Federal Safety Appliance Act, a
law that made it illegal to operate railroad cars without automatic
couplers. Not bad for a man with little to no education in engineering.
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