Corn Flakes

In the 19th Century, Dr. John Kellogg owned and ran the Battle Creek Sanatarium. It was a huge health resort that treated people with chronic illnesses. There they practiced things like hydro-therapy, thermo-therapy, and even electro-therapy. Kellogg was also a big believer in vegetarianism being the best and most healthiest diet for humans. One day he and his brother William Kellogg were experimenting with trying to find a substitute for bread. They boiled wheat, rolled it, then baked it. However they accidentally baked it for too long and the wheat broke up into crispy flakes. They tried the flakes and like it. They began giving it to their patients and they liked it too. The Kellogg brothers tried the same method but this time using corn. The corn tasted better than the wheat and they called it Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. When they began selling it they marketed it as a health food.

Potato Chips

In 1853, a chef named George Crum had a really picky eater dining at the place he worked at. The customer sent back some fried potatoes saying he didn’t like how thick they were. Crum remade them but this time thinner. The customer sent them back again saying they were still too thick. After this happened once more, Crum cut the potatoes as thin as he possibly could then salted the crap out of them, baked them and sent them out. These were the first potato chips ever eaten. The customer absolutely loved them. Soon, word got out about this new delicious food and people started ordering potato chips from Crum.

Sandwich

Sandwiches are called sandwiches because the man who invented them was the British statesman and noble, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. There are two debated origin stories of how Sandwich invented the sandwich. One is he was such a hard worker he didn’t want to leave his desk to eat. He also didn’t want to eat with utensils because then he couldn’t write. So, after seeing some salted beef and two slices of bread on a plate, he just put the meat between the bread to eat it with one hand while he continued to work. The other story goes that he was an avid gambler. He would sit at the card table for hours without taking breaks for food. While he gambled he ordered two slices of bread and beef between them. So he could eat the beef without utensils but not get his hands dirty. The idea caught on and all the other gamblers began ordering the same thing. They simply started calling it a sandwich.

Popsicles

In 1905, Frank Epperson was just 11 years old when he got some soda making equipment. He was excited to start his own little soda business. One day he accidentally left out a sugary mixture of soda overnight. The night was cold and the next morning he found the soda stuck to the stick he was stirring it with. He ate the frozen soda mix on the stick and loved it. So, instead of a soda business. He started an “Epsicles” business. He sold to his friends and neighbors around his town and they all enjoyed them. In 1924, he patented his invention and renamed them popsicles.

Slurpees

In the 1950’s, a man named Omar Knedlik owned a Dairy Queen. One day his soda machines went down so he bought a bunch of soda bottles and kept them in the freezer. They were left in the freezer too long and the soda became slushy and solid. He still served it to his customers and they really liked it. After his soda machines were working again his customers still put in orders for the slushy soda. He called his invention “Slurpees.”

Coca-Cola

John Pemberton, who was a Confederate Colonel in the Civil War, became a morphine addict due to an injury. He wanted to find a substitute for the drug that could treat his pain. So, he experimented with a lot of different ingredients and he made a drink made with alcohol, coca leaves (cocaine) and kola nut (caffeine). He marketed his new drink as a patented medicine. In 1886, Atlanta passed prohibition laws of alcohol so Pemberton took out the alcohol but left everything else. Thus Coca-Cola was born and it went on to be the number 1 soft drink in the world.

Ice-Cream Cones

In 1904, Arnold Fornachou made his living as an ice cream vendor. On a hot summer day he was selling so much ice cream he ran out of the plastic cups he put the ice cream in. Luckily, a baker nearby had some left over waffles and he showed Arnold how to roll the waffles to put ice cream in. These first ice cream cones were a big hit with Arnold’s customers. He began using them instead of the plastic cups.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In 1930, Ruth Wakefield owned the Toll House Inn and was making chocolate cookies for her guests. She ran out of bakers chocolate so she cut up some chunks of Nestle chocolate and put them on her cookies before they baked. She thought the chocolate chunks would melt and spread evenly on the cookies but the didn’t. She tasted one and decided to serve them to her guests anyways. Her guests liked them and they became a staple dessert on their menu from then on.

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