On this day in 1849, at the age of 40, Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) applied for U.S. Patent No. 6469, a device designed to lift steamboats over sandbars and river shoals. He remains the only U.S. President to obtain a patent—a quiet credit to his determination, curiosity, and ingenuity.

“All my life,” Lincoln said, “I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.” Even in the midst of hardship, he kept turning toward growth, compassion, and possibility.

Raised in a Kentucky log cabin, Lincoln had only about one year of formal education, yet he became an inventor, a self-taught attorney, and eventually a president. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing,” he said.

One month after his inauguration, the Civil War began, and he led the country through its darkest days of turmoil, delivering the memorable Gettysburg Address. Remembered as a truly great president, Lincoln proved that lasting accomplishments emerge from desire, discipline, and a steady heart.

“I am a slow walker,” he admitted, “but I never walk back.”