When inventor Lonnie Johnson took a simple squirt gun and ramped it WAY up, he had no idea what a hit it would be. Since in the early 1990s, the Super Soaker has soaked up more than $1 billion in toy sales. But Johnson hasn't stopped there. Mo Rocca reports on how Johnson, a former engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, continues to make a big splash. Originally broadcast on May 21, 2017.
Get to know engineer Lonnie Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Research and Development Co., who invented the wildly-popular Super Soaker water gun, worked on high-performance Nerf dart guns, and focuses today on inventions related to clean energy.
The father of the super soaker fought more than water gun battles in his successful engineering career. Lonnie Johnson grew up in Mobile as integration began to sweep Alabama.
NASA genius Lonnie Johnson invented the Super Soaker back in 1982.
The story of how Lonnie Johnson, an African-American inventor just inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame, beat the odds to create a water gun with seriously fun firepower.
The inventor, from a poor family in the segregated South, also made a fortune.
To celebrate Black History Month, Engadget is running a series of profiles honoring African-American pioneers in the world of science and technology. Today we take a look at the life and work of Lonnie Johnson.
Lonnie Johnson dreamed of inventing, but never knew he'd be famous for a toy.
How a NASA engineer built a better water gun
From his childhood in segregated Mobile, Alabama, to his run-ins with a nay-saying scientific establishment, the engineer Lonnie Johnson has never paid much heed to those who told him what he could and couldn’t accomplish. Best known for creating the state-of-the-art Super Soaker squirt gun, Johnson believes he now holds the key to affordable solar power.
Lonnie Johnson is an American inventor and engineer, best known for inventing the Super Soaker water gun. He is the CEO and Founder at Johnson Reseach & Development and CEO of Johnson Battery Technology.
