Black History Month: Amazing scientists who changed the world
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on October 2, 2024
George Washington Carver was a US scientist and inventor whose passion for plants revolutionised the farming industry in the early 20th Century, as well as discovering hundreds of uses for peanuts (but not peanut butter!), sweet potatoes and soybeans.
Born into slavery, George’s birth date is unknown, but some historians think it was around 1864 – just before slavery was ended in the US in 1865.
When he was around 13-years-old, George left his hometown to go to school and worked hard to get his education.
In 1894 he became the first Black person to graduate from Iowa State College, where he studied botany – the scientific study of plants – and later earned a master’s degree in agriculture.
George went on to become a teacher and researcher at Tuskegee University for many years, where he developed techniques to improve the quality of farming soil, and give farmers different plants to sell, by swapping out cotton plants with different ones, like sweet potatoes or peanuts each season.
He also invented 325 different uses for peanuts, 108 for sweet potatoes and 75 products made from pecans.
Some of the products he created include chilli sauce, instant coffee, shaving cream, and Worcestershire sauce.
His successful techniques soon made him famous, and he met with three American presidents in his lifetime – Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Roosevelt – and the Crown Prince of Sweden even studied with him.
After his death, Carver became the first Black scientist to have a national monument made of him, which was built near to his birthplace in Missouri.
