Edward W. Bullard was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) on May 5 for his invention of the hard hat in 1919. Initially, Bullard used overlapping layers of steamed canvas secured together with glue. He then used water-resistant shellac to coat the shell and dubbed it the “Hard Boiled Hat.”

The hat was modified for use by workers on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in the early 1930s to create a durable industrial hat that would mitigate the dangers of falling objects during bridge construction. The Golden Gate Bridge project became the first designated “Hard Hat Area” in 1933.

Other 2022 inductees to NIHF include Marian Croak, inventor of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and Lonnie Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker.