Super Soaker Secrets: Lonnie Johnson Unleashed

On this episode of IDKMYDE, B Daht shares how Lonnie Johnson turned a simple idea into one of the world's most iconic toys--but it took decades for him to see the full impact of his invention. Discover the surprising journey behind the man who changed Summer forever.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I know it All's what's happening beat out here? And
welcome to another episode of I didn't know, Maybe you
didn't either, And yes I am your host, mister Alumni
twenty twenty five for Winston Salem State University. Bet dot
we that throws panties on stage, and I would like

(00:22):
to say big shouts to all my virgos. Yes, we
have entered the United States of Virgo. And while we
acknowledge the August Virgos, there is a difference. Big shouts
of the September Virgo nine to eleven here. But to
kick off today's episode, if I didn't know, maybe you
didn't either, I have three of the most useless facts

(00:45):
you'll never need ever, not a day in life. Up. First,
did you know that flamingo tongue was considered a delicacy
in ancient Rome? Yeah, flamingo tongue, mean you had that
money on, mean you were sophisticated. It was usually exclusive
for just like the elite and the emperors and stuff.

(01:06):
And I said, they don't know exactly how they prepared
them flamingo tongs, but they probably was like an appetizer.
They would put them on like little skewers. We got
a picture up on our Instagram. It's IDK myde with
an underscore before it and behind it. Your second useless fact,
did you know that butterflies taste with their feet. They

(01:28):
got these multi syllable word chemoreceptors on the bottom of
their feet and it's used to detect chemicals in their spaces.
Like when a butterfly land on a plant, it uses
feet to sample the plant juices. If the plant got
the right nutrients, that butterfly lays eggs on it. That's
how they make sure that their babies got reliable food.

(01:49):
When they hatch flies and moths, they got the same
receptors on their feet. And your third and final useless fact,
kangaroos cannot walk backwards because of them big ass feet
in that big old tail. His body built for forward
propulsion like hopping. Backward movements not so much, very inefficient.

(02:10):
It says they lacked the independent leg movement and ability
to balance in reverse like they were sucking the cha
cha slide reverse reverse. Those have been your three useless facts.
Flamingo tongs considered a delicacy in ancient Rome. Butterflies taste
with their feet and kangaroos cannot walk backwards. So now

(02:34):
we'll transition from facts that you didn't know to facts
that actually matter. I've talked about Lonnie Johnson before he
invented the super soaker. You remember that water gun, a
super soaker. We used the senior skip day them drums
used to have a summer cookows lit And yes, a
black man invented that. But did you know how much
money they paid him in unpaid royalties and how he

(02:55):
even got it? Because I didn't I didn't know. I
didn't know. I didn't I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know. So first thing you
need to understand is Lonnie john Said wasn't just a
toy gun maker. He was an engineer. He was a

(03:16):
former Air Force officer, and he was a scientist with Nasall.
There was a mission to Jupiter called the Galileo Mission.
He worked on it. Google it now. The story goes,
it was nineteen eighty two. Your boy b Dot was
just three years old. At home, he was experimenting on
a heat pump system and by accident, they said, he
shot a powerful stream of water across his bathroom. That

(03:38):
accident planned to Seed for what would become the Super Soaker,
which hit stores seven years later in nineteen eighty nine.
The toy went fed. By the nineties, it was pulling
in hundreds of millions of dollars and eventually it crossed
the billy line and that boy Liney was supposed to
get royalties off each one. But here go when the
story get interesting, and you know when somebody says about

(04:01):
to get interested, you need to cross your legs and
sit back. Come between two thousand and seven and twenty twelve,
Lonnie realized his royalty checks wasn't adding up. Hass Bro.
They owned the company and they was underpay Bruh. So
in twenty thirteen, that boy Lonnie took him to court
and the courts sided with Lonnie Johnson one hundred percent.
They ordered has Bro to pay Bruh seventy two point

(04:23):
nine million dollars in unpaid royalties. Can you believe that
the man that made our childhood summer's legendary had to
fight in court to get his fair share. I know
he wanted to spray in with the water gun. I
saw a different posts on social media and people in
the comments upset. They said seventy two point nine million
dollars ain't enough. Then I saw a comment, say, imagine

(04:46):
you had an invention and someone told you that in
thirty six years they would give you seventy two point
nine million dollars for it. Would you do it? Thirty
six years a long time man. But I'm like dang
Loney with forty when he invented that, he'll be seventy
six this year. Don't give me seventy two million dollars

(05:08):
at seventy six. I mean, I'll take seventy two million
dollars at seventy six, But give me that seventy two
million dollars in my forties, in my fifties. So the
next time you see your kids running through the yard
with this super soakers, remember this. It's not just water
blasting through the air. This is a story of invention, persistence,
and justice. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.

(05:29):
I