Jan Matzeliger was born in Paramaribo, Surinam Dutch Guiana, on September 15, 1852. Jan was uneducated but got educated during his life time. Jan had experiments with machines, because he was taught to work on machines when he was 15. He had a talent to work on machines, so he decided to start an experiment on a shoe making machine because at that time there were no machines that made shoes to last.Jan decided to make a machine that makes shoes to last. It took him three years to come to a final thought in making a lasting machine. Many times he was offered money for his machine but he turned it down. He was the first African American to make a shoe making machine. He was known for making the machine. Everybody in town came to him to buy shoes. He died August 24, 1889 from a disease because of lack of food. While he was working on the machine he wasn't eating healthy.
November 1998