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Elijah McCoy was born in Ontario, Canada, to runaway slaves from Kentucky in the United States, who escaped on the underground railroad. When he was three, McCoy's family moved back to the U.S., settling in Detroit, Michigan. He had 11 brothers and sisters. McCoy was fascinated by machinery. He studied engineering in Scotland from age 16 and on his return to the United States settled in Ypsilanti, MichiganYpsilanti is a city located in Washtenaw County in the U. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 22,362. The city is located in the northern portion of Ypsilanti Township, though it is politically independent. The cit.

While working as a fireman on the Michigan Central Railroad McCoy invented the automatic lubricator, which oils the engines of boats, trains, and so on. His "lubricating cup" for locomotiveA locomotive is a vehicle that provides the motive power for a railway train. Traditionally, the locomotive or locomotives are positioned at the front of a train, pulling passenger carriages and/or freight vehicles. This requires the locomotive to be moves from 1872Events January 2 Brigham Young, is arrested for bigamy (25 wives). February 20 In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens. March 1 Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park March 5 George Westinghouse patents t was a great boon for the railroad industry, allowing trains to run faster and more profitably with much less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance. He also developed at least 56 other patented devices, including a folding ironing board and an automatic sprinkler. In 1920 he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company.

McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart in 1868; she died four years later. He remarried the next year to Mary Eleanor Delaney and moved to Detroit. Elijah McCoy died in Detroit in 1929 at the age of 85, still suffering from injuries from a car accident seven years earlier that killed his second wife. McCoy had been a resident of the Eloise Hospital, also known as the Michigan State Asylum before his death, suffering from dementia.

According to some sources, the saying the real McCoy, meaning the real thing, derives from Elijah: many of his inventions were the basis of inferior copies. Railroad engineers would enquire if a locomotive was equipt with "the real McCoy"; if so they knew it could be driven with confidence. Others dispute this account of the origin of the phrase.

1 See also

• African AmericanAfrican Americans also known as Afro- Americans or black Americans comprise an ethnic group in the United States of America whose dominant ancestry is from Sub-Saharan West Africa. Many African Americans also claim European, Native American, or Asian ance
• Black CanadianBlack Canadian is a term used to identify a Canadian of predominantly, or at least partial, African descent. Historically the majority of those in Canada of African descent have been black, therefore the term is not typically used to apply to non-black pe
• List of CanadiansThis is a list of well-known Canadians. Architects Ernest Cormier, architect and engineer Arthur Erickson Francis Rattenbury Moshe Safdie Frank Gehry Artists The Group of Seven painters The Beaver Hall Group painters Robert Bateman ( 1930-), painter Paul-
• Underground Railroad