Historical figures famous for something they never did
George Washington Carver was an American scientist and inventor famous for creating alternative food products and farming methods. But while Carver’s many innovations earned him comparisons to Leonardo da Vinci, the erroneous belief that he invented peanut butter has stuck in the popular imagination. Carver was indeed a peanut pioneer—he is reputed to have found over 300 uses for the legume during his career—but he wasn’t the first person to create peanut butter.