Lawyers Unearth Early Patents: "In its first 46 years of existence, the Patent Office, as it was known then, issued the first patent received by a woman, and the first by an African-American. But all its records were lost when a fire gutted the building where the patents were being stored temporarily while a more modern, fireproof headquarters was under construction. There was a fire station right next door, but it was December, and in the frigid early morning hours the volunteer firefighters discovered their leather hoses were cracked and a pump did not work."

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