June 13, 2022 - National Sewing Machine Day | National Weed Your Garden Day

Welcome to June 13th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a persistent inventor and persistent weeds. Elias Howe patented the sewing machine in 1838, but didn’t make any money selling it. In fact, he was living in poverty until he realized that other manufacturers had been ripping him off and selling lots of sewing machines in the process. So he sued them. All of them. And he won each lawsuit, earning himself millions of dollars. But what really brought the machine to the masses was his collaboration with Isaac Singer, who had invented a sewing machine that was totally different, except for one thing. Singer licensed the needle design from Howe, who took a cut of every machine sold, and the rest is history. On National Sewing Machine Day, celebrate a revolutionary invention that’s kept us in stitches for more that 150 years! In the early 1900s, farmers in the Southeastern United States found a plant that provided an inexpensive way to combat soil erosion. It was called kudzu. It does do that, but it also kills other plants by smothering them and cutting off any nutrients. And it grows like wildfire. Kudzu can grow a whole foot in one day and in just a few decades it has covered the landscape from Florida up to New Jersey and as far west as Texas. And there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. So when you’re in your backyard complaining about dandelions and crabgrass on National Weed Your Garden Day, remember that it could be a lot worse. I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices