We are pleased to spotlight Jerry Lawson in day eight of our first annual 28 Days of Little Known Facts About (Black) American History
Jerry Lawson created the first home video game system with interchangeable games long before Playstation and X-Box
Born in New York City on December 1, 1940, Gerald Anderson Lawson is famous for being a video game pioneer, helping develop the first cartridge-based home video game console system. Lawson’s father was a longshoreman and his mother worked for New York City. He had one brother, Michael.
Inspired as a child by the work of George Washington Carver, Jerry Lawson dabbled in electronics growing up, repairing televisions to make a little money before enrolling at Queens College, part of the City University of New York. His interest in computing led him in the 1970s to Silicon Valley’s Homebrew Computer Club, of which he was the only black member at the time. He dies in April 2011 at the age of 70.
The contributions of black inventors are ignored and not taught in schools. This is unacceptable.
Source: Biography
About The 28 Day Campaign
This informational campaign: 28 Days of Little Known Facts About Black American History will see 540Blog share little known facts about Black Americans throughout history every day throughout the month of February. Those that were groundbreaking and history making but do not necessarily get the media attention and coverage.
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