1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: The Stay in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello History Lovers. I'm Eves and you're listening 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a show that uncovers 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: history one day at a time. Today is December twelve. 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: The day was December twelfth. Eight. Dr George Franklin Grant 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: received US pet and number six hundred and thirty eight thousand, 7 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: nine hundred and twenty for the first ever golf tea. 8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: Grant was born in Oswego, New York. There he worked 9 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: for a dentist, Dr. Albert Smith, first running errands and 10 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: eventually as an assistant. Smith encouraged him to pursue dentistry, 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: and he left New York for Boston, where he continued 12 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: working as a dental assistant and was admitted to the 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He graduated in eighteen seventy, 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: becoming the second African American ever to graduate from Harvard 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: Dental School. The next year, Harvard hired him as an 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: assistant in the Department of Mechanical Dentistry. During this time, 17 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Grant specialized in treating patients with cleft palette, a congenital 18 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: condition marked by a split or opening in the roof 19 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: of the mouth. He invented and patented the oblate palette, 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: a prosthetic device that helped his patients speak and eat. Eventually, 21 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: Grant was promoted to instructor and treatment for cleft palette 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: and cognate diseases, making him the first African American faculty 23 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,959 Speaker 1: member at the university. He was also a founding member 24 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,559 Speaker 1: and later president of the Harvard Odontological Society. After working 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: at Harvard for nearly two decades, Grant left to start 26 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: his own dental practice. But outside of his dental practice, 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: Grant was an avid golfer. His daughter Francis caddied for 28 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: him on the meadow he built next to their home 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: in the Boston suburb of Arlington Heights. The family moved 30 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: to Beacon Hill, but went back to Arlington Heights to 31 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: golf from time to time. Though Grant enjoyed golfing, he 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: was not a fan of the messy process of teeing 33 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: the ball. At the time, golfers had to pinch moist 34 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: sand together to create a tea, so he decided to 35 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: create a t that would simplify the process. He fouled 36 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: a patent application for his golf tea on July one, 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: and on December twelve he received the first patent for 38 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: a wooden golf tea. The patent application described that the 39 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: tea had to firmly support the ball and also not 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: interfere with the swing of the golf club. The tea 41 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: had a flexible head and a rigid base that was 42 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 1: preferably made of wood and tapered to a point to 43 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: be inserted in the ground. The ball rested in a 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: ring shaped seat on top of the tea. Using this 45 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: tea would ensure that the ball was always at the 46 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: same height, unlike sand teas. Though his invention was a 47 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: lot like the modern tea, Grant did not market it 48 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: or capitalize on it. He had teas and manufactured in 49 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: Arlington Heights and gave them to his friends and playing partners, 50 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: but didn't take the invention any further than that. He 51 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: died of liver disease in nineteen ten. In the nineteen twenties, 52 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: Dr William Lowell, also a dentist, invented and popularized the 53 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: ready tea. At that point, using a wooden golf tea 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: became the norm. He patented the tea a few years 55 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: after it found success, but he spent a lot of 56 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: time and money fighting patent infringement. The United States Golf 57 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: Association recognized Grant as the original inventor of the golf 58 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: tea in nine. I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully you know 59 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: If you know you already spend too much time on 61 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: social media, spend some of that time with us at 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: t D i h C Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 63 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: Email still works, Send us a note at this day. 64 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com. 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