George Washington Carver

From Slave to Inventor:

His day of birth is some time in the year of 1864 in Diamond, Missouri. He was born into slavery. His mom, sister and George were all kidnapped when he was 1 week old and they were sold again back into slavery.

He wanted to make something new. People had already invented peanuts but he wanted to take it a step further and instead created peanut butter. Not just that also 300 ways to use peanuts. His reputation is largely based on his promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their quality of life. He died January 5, 1943.