Timeline

1949: Lonnie Johnson was born in Alabama- October 6th,1949.

1962: Lonnie made a go-kart out of parts from a scrapyard, with a working engine- age 13.

1965: Lonnie began making his robot Linex.

1968: The robot ‘Linex’ won Lonnie the fair held by the Junior Engineering Technical Society at the University of Alabama.

1969: Johnson attended Tuskegee University on a scholarship.

1973: He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

1975: He received a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the school

1976: Johnson joined the U.S. Air Force, becoming an important member of the government scientific establishment. 

1979: Johnson moved to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

1982: Lonnie returned back to the Air Force.

1982: While experimenting in his own time, Lonnie had the idea for the “Power Drencher” water gun. 

1989: After 7 years of tinkering and tireless sales-pitching, during which he left the Air Force to go into business for himself, Johnson finally sold his device to the Larami Corporation. 

1990: Changed the name from “Power drencher” to “Super Soaker”. The Super Soaker appeared in toys shops.

1991: The Super Soaker topped $200 million in sales and went on to rank among the world’s Top 20 best-selling toys. 

1996: Lonnie came up the idea for a toy pneumatic Nerf launcher or the ‘Nerf Gun’.

2003: Created the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter (JTEC).

2008: Received the Breakthrough award from Popular Mechanics for JTEC.

2011: Inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

2013: Johnson received a $73 million settlement from Hasbro Inc., which had acquired Larami Corp a decade earlier. 

2021: Today, Dr. Lonnie Johnson is founder and president of Johnson Research and Development Co. Inc., Johnson is board chairman of the Georgia Alliance for Children and a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, an organization that mentors high school and college students.