Today, we’re back to talking about food, farming and history, and we’re talking about Henry Blair. If you’ve never heard his name before, chances are, especially if you are a farmer, you’ve used one of his inventions or some iteration of one of his inventions.

Anyway, I chose this man to do an episode on, not because he is a black inventor, not because he is hardly known by many, but because his patented inventions (plural) have changed the lives of farmers in the United States since 1834.

There isn't a lot of recorded history about Henry Blair. I have no idea whether he was married or had children. He was barely literate, but he was the 2nd man of color to be issued a patent in the United States. He was 27 years old.

His patents changed farming, food and fashion...forever. Truth is, most people have never heard of him and probably don't really care. That's why he is the topic of today's episode...because at the end of the day, all we are is dust in the wind.