Little Known History Fact....

Do you know that George Washington Carver, “The Father of the Peanut Industry?”

Carver is known for his hundreds of peanut inventions, but today we wanted to share a few interesting facts about him that you may not have known.

1. Most people assume that Carver was born in Alabama but he was actually born in Diamond Grove, Missouri, before the Civil War.

2. George Washington Carver was the first African American to enroll at Iowa State University. He later received his bachelor’s and masters from there.

3. After Carver received his master’s degree he was offered a job at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, by Booker T. Washington to serve as the Director of the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School.

4. The George Washington Carver Museums in Tuskegee, Alabama, has a nutrition trail that features signs with nutritional facts and quotes from Carver.

5. In 1916, Carver published a research bulletin, “How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption.” This bulletin includes several interesting ways to use peanuts like shampoo, mayonnaise, paints, and coffee.

6. Not only was Carver skilled in finding uses for peanuts, he also found new ways to use Alabama clay and sweet potatoes.

7. Carver was one of the most prominent African Americans of his time and well-recognized for his working in plant research.

8. George Washington Carver advised Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi on matters of agriculture and nutrition.

9. George Washington Carver was the first African American to have a national park named after him. You can visit the park and his monument in Missouri.

10. In addition to being an excellent scientist and inventor, Carver was also an accomplished pianist and painter. His artwork was exhibited at the World’s Fair in 1893.

11. About George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “From oppressive and crippling surroundings, George Washington Carver lifted his searching, creative mind to the ordinary peanut, and found therein extraordinary possibilities for goods and products unthinkable by minds of the past, and left for succeeding generations an inspiring example of how an individual could rise above the paralyzing conditions of circumstance.”

12. Many people are under the assumption that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter, but contrary to popular belief peanut butter was around centuries before he was around. He did help popularize the food.

13. He helped Henry Ford make peanut rubber for cannons for World War II.

14. He was too small to help out on his father’s farm to so he taught himself how to read and write.

15. In addition to having a love for peanuts he also invented paints and coffee.

Reference: http://nationalpeanutboard.org/history/celebrate-black-history-with-fun-facts-about-george-washington-carver/