Mary Anderson was born in Alabama months after the tragedy of the Civil War. She helped her state rebuild, then went on to create windshield wipers โ long before auto titans realized the potential.
Dr. James Mease was a Philadelphia intellectual born to a veteran of the American Revolution. In 1812, he published the first recipe for ketchup, a signature taste of America.
Otto Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, created the invention by which all others are judged โ sliced bread โ in 1928. His innovation quickly changed consumer culture.
Walter Diemer, a 23-year-old accountant for Fleer Co. of Philadelphia, invented bubble gum in 1928. The secret formula had defied the best food scientists for decades.
The Kentucky Derby debuted in 1875, the horse race a vision of Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of American explorer William Clark in hopes of reviving commonwealth's economy.