APRIL_NEWSLETTER

18 David Armbruster,
swimming coach at the
University of Iowa, invented
a swimming stroke called
“the butterfly stroke” in
1934. He came up with a
method to bring your arms
forward while doing a
breast stroke.
19 In 1935, after years
of developing hybrid seed
corn, Henry A. Wallace (U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture
from 1933–1940 and Vice
President under Franklin
Roosevelt) founded the
world’s first and largest
hybrid seed company, Pioneer
Hi-Bred Corn Company
in Johnston, Iowa.
20 The first digital computer
(the ABC) was invented
between 1939 and 1942
at Iowa State University by
physics professor John Vincent
Atanasoff and his graduate
student Clifford Berry.
21 Lee de Forest,
born in Council Bluffs,
Iowa, is American inventor
of the Audion vacuum
tube, which made possible
live radio broadcasting
and became the key
component of all radio,
telephone, radar, television,
and computer systems
before the invention
of the transistor in 1947.
He was widely honored
as the “father of radio”
and the “grandfather of
television.”
22 In 1986, Dr. Norman E.
Borlaug, the Father of the
Green Revolution and native
of Cresco, Iowa, founded The
World Food Prize to recognize
individuals who have advanced
human development by
improving the quality, quantity
or availability of food in the
world. He is the first in the
nation to receive the trifecta
of humanitarian awards—Nobel
Peace Prize, Congressional
Gold Medal and Presidential
Medal of Freedom, along with
the National Medal of Science.
23 RAGBRAI is a week-long bike touring event held
every year. Beginning in 1973, it’s the oldest and largest
touring event of its kind. The acronym “RAGBRAI” stands
for Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa and
the 8,500 riders who participate are selected by a
random lottery.