---
title: Pancake Day and Black History
date: 2010-02-16T13:39:44Z
modified: 2010-02-16T13:39:44Z
permalink: "https://redmonk.com/jgovernor/pancake-day-and-black-history/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 2564
categories:
  - Uncategorized
tags:
  - Uncategorized
  - black
  - inventions
  - inventors
  - pancakes
timestamp: 2010-02-16T13:39:44Z
---

![](http://z.about.com/d/inventors/1/0/s/B/lemonsqueezer.gif)

I saw a Facebook update that really caught my attention just now. We don’t hear enough about black inventors, so thanks to Zena, the Cookie Princess, for today’s “Black History Fact”.

> No matter how you like your pancakes, you have all of these African-American inventors to thank for helping you enjoy them: Norbert Rillieux – Sugar Refinement/1843; Thomas Carrington – Stove/1876; George Washington Carver – Peanut Butter/1880; Willie Johnson – Egg Beater/…1884; John Standard – Refrigerator/1891 and John White – Lemon Squeezer/1891. Bon Appetit!

Being myself a native of New Orleans the story of [Norbert Rillieux](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Rillieux) is particularly noteworthy. Black people from my hometown didn’t just invent jazz. The picture above meanwhile is from John T White’s patented lemon squeezer.

For Americans wondering what Pancake Day is, its a [Shrove Tuesday](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday) tradition, to use all up all the sugar, fat and eggs in the house before fasting.

Zena Marten, a friend of mine, is the founder of [Cookieluscious](http://www.cookieluscious.com/), which bakes amazing American cookies from the heart of Primrose Hill, north London.