Ninety percent of microphones used today are based on the ingenuity of African American inventor James Edward West.

West and a colleague, Gerhard Sessler, developed the mic (officially known as the Electroacoustic Transducer Electret Microphone) while working for Bell Laboratories. They received a patent for the mic in 1962.

Throughout his 40-year career with Bell Labs, West obtained 47 U.S. patents and more than 200 foreign patents, making him one of the most prolific black inventors in history.

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