1909 Ad

Matthew Henson, adventurer and polar explorer, was the first man to reach the North Pole on this day. Many had tried and failed to reach the North Pole before Henson, who was an expert in handling the equipment, dog sleds and in dealing with the Eskimos. Henson and Naval Admiral Robert E. Peary started an expedition for the Pole from Cape Sheridan, Greenland, in February 1909. By April, they were near exhaustion and blinded by snow glare, but only 60 miles from their goal; despite the adversity, Henson went forth and became the first man to reach the North Pole. He published his account of the expedition in his book, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. In 2000, the National Geographic Society posthumously awarded Henson with its highest honor, the Hubbard Medal, for distinction in exploration, discovery and research.

April 8, 1990--

Percy L. Julian, an organic chemist who made discoveries in medicine and industry, and agricultural scientist George Washington Carver were the first Black inventors admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on this day. Among his many discoveries, Julian created a synthesis of cortisone, a hormone produced in the adrenal gland, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions such as insect bites or poison ivy. His discovery helped to reduce the price of cortisone from hundreds of dollars per drop for natural cortisone to a few cents per gram. Carver created new crop-rotation methods for conserving nutrients in soil and discovered new uses for the sweet potato and the pecan, including synthetic rubber and material for paving highways. A prodigious scientist, Carver also developed 325 different uses for the peanut-from cooking oil to printer's ink.