DID YOU KNOW? for October 7 – 20, 2025

Long before 1492 when Columbus landed in the Caribbean Islands, Native Americans were creating inventions that have shaped modern life in significant ways, including the use of natural ingredients as pain relievers, birth control and medical devices. Here are a few of those inventions:

Pain relievers - Native American healers were known to use willow bark as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. It contains salicin, which generates salicylic acid when consumed, which is the active ingredient in modern-day aspirin.

Oral birth control - Long before the development of birth control as we know it today, Shoshone and Navajo tribes used stoneseed as oral contraceptives. 

Syringes - Indigenous tribes created a tool using animal bladders and sharpened, hollowed-out bird bone to inject medicine and irrigate wounds. Learn more here.

DID YOU KNOW? for September 23 – October 6, 2025

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett (born in 1986) is a Black researcher, assistant professor, immunologist, and microbiologist. In 2020, Corbett was part of the team at the National Institute of Health (NIH) that developed the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine – the first to enter clinical trials in the United States. Her previous work includes working as a biological sciences trainer at the NIH and studying human antibody responses to dengue virus in Sri Lankan children at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Born in 1986, Corbett started working as a viral immunologist at the National Institutes of Health in 2014. Learn more about Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett: Balancing Rapid Medical Solutions and Public Safety | Decoding COVID-19 | NOVA.

DID YOU KNOW? for September 9 – 22, 2025

Madam C. J. Walker (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) born Sarah Breedlove, was the first female self-made millionaire. A black woman, Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line of cosmetics and hair care products for Black women. She was later known also for her philanthropy and activism. Walker made financial donations to numerous organizations such as the NAACP and became a patron of the arts. Learn more about Madam C. J. Walker here. 

DID YOU KNOW? for August 26 – September 8, 2025

Did you know that PLATO's Education Fund supports the UW-Madison Odyssey Project? This award-winning program takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education, giving adult and youth learners a voice, and increasing confidence through reading, writing, and speaking. Learn more about the UW-Madison Odyssey Project and PLATO's Education Fund.

DID YOU KNOW? for August 12 – 25, 2025

Alexander Miles (May 18, 1838 – May 7, 1918) invented the mechanism for automatic elevator doors after nearly losing his own daughter down an elevator shaft. Before his invention, people had to manually shut both the shaft and elevator doors before riding safely between floors. In 1887 Miles took out a patent and his designs are largely reflected in elevators used today. Learn more about Alexander Miles here and here. 

DID YOU KNOW? for July 29 – August 11, 2025

Lisa Gelobter is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and technology executive. Gelobter worked on several pioneering internet technologies, and she is credited with developing the animation used to create GIFs. As a Black female technology innovator who started her career in the early days of the internet, one of her most notable jobs was as an engineer for the earliest interactive multimedia platform, Shockwave. She helped develop the software behind the very first online videos. Learn more about Lisa Gelobter here.

DID YOU KNOW? for July 15 – 28, 2025

Did you know that PLATO's Education Fund supports the UW Odyssey Project? This award-winning UW-Madison program takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education, giving adult and youth learners a voice, and increasing confidence through reading, writing and speaking. This program has empowered more than 600 participants to find their voices and get a jump start at earning college degrees they never thought possible. Some graduates of the program have journeyed from homelessness to UW-Madison degrees, or from incarceration to meaningful work in the community. Learn more about the UW-Odyssey Project here and learn about the PLATO Education Fund here.

DID YOU KNOW? for July 1 – 14, 2025

Mary Davidson Kenner (May 17, 1912 – January 13, 2006) holds the record for the greatest number of patents (five) awarded a Black woman by the U.S. government. While she wasn’t formally recognized with awards for her inventions, her commonsense contributions helped pave the way for subsequent innovations. Learn more about Kenner and the practical products she designed here.

DID YOU KNOW? for June 17 – 30, 2025

PLATO's Diversity Awareness Committee has compiled a list of immigration resources in Dane County to encourage members to learn about  the challenges that local immigrants face and, if interested, opportunities to get involved. Explore the list of Dane County immigration resources here. Learn more about the Diversity Awareness Committee here.

DID YOU KNOW? for June 3 – June 16, 2025

Bessie Coleman, (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926) was the first American woman to obtain an international pilot's license. Because Colemanwas born in Texas during the discriminatory Jim Crow era and was of African American and Native American descent, she had to go to France to attend aviation school. Coleman returned to the United States after completing her studies and became a stunt pilot. Tragically, she was killed in 1926 during an aerial show rehearsal. Learn more about Bessie Coleman here.