Black History is Day 6
- English Simone
- Feb 6, 2023
- 1 min read
On this day, we pay homage to Jan Matzeliger! This self-educated, African American -- "whose father was a Dutch engineer and mother was born in Dutch Guiana and was of African ancestry" (Blackinventor.com) --- revolutionized how shoes were produced with his invention of the automatic shoe lasting machine. With this invention, shoe production increase from 50 pair per day to 700.
He was mechanically inclined and held down multiple jobs to earn a learning. Quite the go-getter! Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 36 years old by a cold that developed into tuberculosis.
The young inventor was honored with his own U.S. postage stamp in 1991.
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