February 7, 2008
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Profile America for the seventh day of Black History Month. George Washington Carver was one of Americas preeminent scientists, known around the world for his agricultural research. Born into slavery in Missouri in 1864, his birthplace is now a national monument. Carver taught farmers how to grow and preserve nutritious foods and how to increase their yield by rotating crops. He invented more than 300 uses for peanuts from cooking oil to printers ink, and hundreds more for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes. But Carver refused to patent any of his discoveries, saying they should be used as widely as possible for the benefit of all. Today in the U.S., there are 1.4 million people in the life, physical and social sciences, nearly 6 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.