Posted on February 11, 2016
As president of the United States, on this day in 1983, Ronald Reagan proclaimed February 11, as National Inventor’s Day. A tribute to the inspiring ingenuity that makes the rest of us say, “Why didn’t I think of that!”
As a result of his experience having boats run aground while navigating rivers, in 1849, the enterprising Abe invented a flotation system for lifting riverboats stuck on sandbars and other debris.
Though the invention was never manufactured, a model of the idea resides in storage at the Smithsonian Institution.