Martha Jane Hunt was born in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1826. The family moved to Philadelphia in the 1830. It’s unclear but when she was 15 or 16 he eloped with Benjamin who was 21. He became director of the U.S. Navy’s 9scientific laboratory in Washington, D.C. There was a dispute in his pay for his work so he resigned in 1847 and went to work for the Boston Gas Company.
As a result, from chemical fumes exposure he died in 1848. The following two years were tragic to Martha as two of her children died as well as her mother, leaving her in emotionally drained and financially ruined. While going through her husband’s hand written notes she discovered something that will forever put her in the history book.
For nearly 10 years she devoted her work on the incomplete notes of her husband experimenting with different chemicals before a breakthrough coming in 1858. While witnessing a firework display in New York City she had an epiphany which netted her patent number 23,536. Her invention brought about changes in the U.S. Navy in 1859.
You may be asking yourself what did she invent. Well first she established the Coston Manufacturing Company. Of course, I’m writing about Martha Hunt Coston. She developed the Coston flare, a device for signaling ships at sea and on land. BTW the one color she needed was blue. Coston Manufacturing Company remained in business until 1985. She died in 1904. Not bad, not bad at all. So, I ask you how many of you could overcome the loss she did and still accomplish what she did? I doubt I could, how about you?
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