• In 1929 Elijah McCoy died. A few years before, his wife Mary and him were involved in a traffic accident. Mary died of her injuries. Elijah was alone and when he died, he was forgotten. • But in 1975, the city of Detroit celebrated Elijah McCoy by putting a historic marker where his house was and naming a street  Elijah McCoy Drive so that everybody would remember him and his invention which is still used on machines today.