X-Patent
On July 31, 1790 inventor Samuel Hopkins of Pittsford, Vermont became the first person to be issued a patent in the United States. His patented invention was an improvement in the "making of Pot Ash by a new apparatus & process." The earliest patent law required that a working model of each invention be produced in miniature.
Sarah E. Goode
Sarah Elisabeth Goode (1855 – April 8, 1905) was an entrepreneur and inventor. She was the first African-American woman to receive a United States patent, which she received in 1885. The first African-American woman to receive a patent was Judy W. Reed on September 23, 1884, but Reed only signed her patent with her mark (an X) and not her signature.