Lonnie Johnson was always building things. As a kid he made rockets. As a teenager

he built a robot from scratch. As an adult he worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion

Laboratory on the Galileo orbiter and probe that studied Jupiter.

And then one day, while hooking up his latest invention

to the bathroom sink to test it out …

WHOOSH!

Water shot across the room. “This would make a great water gun,” Lonnie thought.

Meet the innovative engineer who unexpectedly invented one

of the most popular toys of all time—the Super Soaker.