Martha Coston, an inventress and businesswoman, revolutionized maritime safety with her invention of the Coston flare system in 1859. Building upon her late husband’s work, she developed a signaling technique using various colored flares to enable effective nighttime communication at sea. The system enhanced ship-to-ship communication, significantly reducing maritime accidents. Widely adopted by the U.S. Navy and commercial shipping industries, Coston's flares marked an important advancement in nautical technology.