This is the man who invented the potato chip. His name is George Crum. A skilled chef, he worked at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York which is where Crum invented the chips. The Moon’s Lake House owner Cary Moon tried to later claim credit for the chip invention and began producing and distributing potato chips in boxes. In the 1920s a so-called entrepreneur named Herman Lay caught wind of these thinly cut potatoes, mimicked the recipe and began traveling through the south and introducing potato chips to different communities. At that point, Crum’s legacy was overtaken by the mass production and distribution of potato chips, on a national scale by Herman Lay. By 1930 Louis A “Doc” Farone, a bootlegger and associate of underworld figure Meyer Lansky gained ownership of Moon’s Lake House, turned it into an illegal gambling house and illegal bar during prohibition. Overall, legal and illegal American success was built off the organic discovery by the melanated. It has been said that when Crum opened his own restaurant in the 1860s in Malta, New York, he provided every table with a basket of chips for the free. For the love. Very player-like. He lived to be 90.
Black History 365 | # 80 Claudinette Fouchard
Born in Port Au Prince Haiti, Claudinette Fouchard won Miss Haiti and the Miss World Sugar Pageant in 1960. Upon winning Haiti had made a few stamps in her honor, she also made it to the covers of Jet & Ebony magazine. She eventually left to study in France and eventually at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. After her success in pageantry, Fouchard married and largely left the public eye. She married a German Industrialist in her parent’s backyard villa in Petionville, Haiti. Her time in the spotlight was short, however she made an immense impact on the world’s impression of Haiti.
Black History 365 | # 79 George Washington Carver
This is George Washington Carver. He’s the man who discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts. The agriculturist who developed many methods to prevent soil depletion. The one thing he didn’t actually invent around peanuts was peanut butter. That was Marcellus Gilmore Edson. But I digress. Carver was castrated at a young age by his adoptive “owners” at around 11 years old. They made him a eunuch to be a servant for their daughter. Search the depths of your search engine pages to discover the truth. History has been rewritten & hidden and continues to be hidden & rewritten. Now there are articles that discuss the sexual orientation of Carver. George Washington Carver’s achievements are taught in elementary school. He is a very well known agriculturalist in American history. Bless his soul.
Black History 365 | # 77 Katherine Johnson
Did you know Katherine Johnson was one of the first women to work at NASA? She was a member of the Space Task Group. In 1960 she coauthored a paper with one of the group’s engineers about calculations for placing a spacecraft into orbit. It was the first time a woman in her division received credit as an author of a research report.
Black History 365 | # 75 Sylvia Robinson
Did you know a black woman, Sylvia Robinson is the Godmother of Hip-Hop? At least within the industry…conceiving and producing the first successful rap record in the summer of 1979, “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang. That record singlehandedly transformed the genre from a regional activity to commercially viable art form. We can thank her for that.