Yesterday was Rubber Eraser Day. We were so busy using our erasers to get our income taxes a low as possible (April 15 US tax filing date), we ran out of time to blog about it yesterday. But of course you can celebrate the invention of the eraser any day of the year.
April 15, 1770 — Joseph Priestley recorded his discovery of a item made from rubber imported from Brazil that would erase — “rub out” — pencil marks. Priestly wrote, “I have seen a substance excellently adapted to the purpose of wiping from paper the mark of black led pencil.” Priestly called his new produce a “rubber”:
Links for information about Rubber Eraser Day:
http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventors/a/JosephPriestley.htm
http://www.babytalk.org/whats-new/Lets-talk-columns-2006/20060415-It’s-Rubber-Eraser-Day.html
http://www.holidayinsights.com/other/rubbereraserday.htm
April 15 is also “Tax Day” in the U.S. — the due date for individual income tax returns. Many erasers are used to get the tax as low as possible.
