The Barber of Progress: How Richard Spikes Invented the Modern World In nineteen zero-eight, Richard Spikes was a barber and a saloon keeper. By nineteen sixty-two, he was a blind inventor whose safety systems were protecting every school child in America. This is the unfiltered history of Richard Spikes—the Black genius behind the modern beer tap, the directional turn signal, and the swiveling barber chair. We are exploring the life of a man who refused to stop innovating, even when he lost his