Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901)

On this day in 1870 Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from
Natchez, Mississippi, was sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming
the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

During the Civil War, Revels, a college-educated minister, helped
form African American army regiments for the Union cause,
started a school for freed men, and served as a chaplain for the
Union army. Posted to Mississippi, Revels remained in the
former Confederate state after the war and entered into
Reconstruction-era Southern politics.

Hiram Revels taking the oath of office.

Potato Head, formerly Mr. Potato Head, is a toy consisting of a
plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety
of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts
usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, pants and a
mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner
in 1949 and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in
1952 Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television and
has remained in production since its debut. It was originally
produced as separate plastic parts with pushpins that could be
stuck into a real potato or other vegetable. However, due to
complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government
safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body
within the toy set in 1964.          ^]

Over the years, the original toy was joined by Mrs. Potato Head
and supplemented with accessories.(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Inventor George Lerner (1922–1995)

TIM MAGUIRE

Muhammad Ali (left) defeated Sonny Liston.