Popcorn

Popcorn

When was Popcorn invented? Historians tend to agree that Popcorn was invented in c. 3000 and the first known use of Popcorn was in Ancient Times during the prehistoric period of invention (3000 - 1800 BC).

Who invented Popcorn? The name of a specific person has never been credited with the invention of Popcorn. The invention is so old that the name of the inventor has been lost over time, although the first use of Popcorn is believed to have originated in the Americas and enjoyed by Mesoamerican civilizations and various Native American Indians. The invention of Popcorn is considered a fun, enduring addition to the field of Food and Drink.

Definition of Popcorn: Popcorn is defined as small kernels and ears of corn that puff up and burst when exposed to dry heat making a popping sound.

 

Facts about who invented Popcorn

 

 Inventions and Inventors Index

 

Fact File: Who invented Popcorn? Date of Invention: c. 3000 *** Name of Inventor: Unknown *** Historical Period: Ancient Times (3000 - 1800 BC) *** Category: Food and Drink *** Country of Origin: America *** The History and Invention***

Fact 1: Who invented Popcorn? The name of the inventor of Popcorn is unknown but it is believed to have been invented in c. 3000 during ancient times (3000 - 1800 BC).

Fact 2: Who invented Popcorn?  Popcorn is a type of corn (maize) that was eaten by many Native American Indian tribes and early Mesoamerican civilizations across the Americas.

Fact 3: Who invented Popcorn? The oldest popcorn ever found, believed to date back 4000 years, was discovered in the "Bat Cave" of central New Mexico in 1948 by two Harvard graduate students, anthropologist Herbert Dick and botanist Earle Smith.

Fact 4: Who invented Popcorn? Among these prehistoric corn kernels, Herbert Dick and Earle Smith. found six that were partly or completely popped.

Fact 5: Who invented Popcorn? The culture of the early Mesoamericans and the Mississippian Mound Builders influenced many of the lives of the early descendents of the Native American Indian tribes and their maize and popcorn spread across the continent of North America from the New Mexico tribes such as the Pueblo and Zuni in the south up to the Great Lakes region that was inhabited by Native American tribes such as the Mohawk and Iroquois.

Fact 6: Who invented Popcorn? Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortes was one of the first Europeans to be introduced to popcorn when he invaded Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec Empire. Popcorn was important to the Aztecs not only as food but also as decoration for statues of their gods, ceremonial headdresses and necklaces. 

Fact 7: Who invented Popcorn? The Native American Indians prepared popcorn by popping corn in pottery crocks with heated sand.

Fact 8: Who invented Popcorn? Popcorn was just one of the many foods introduced to the early colonists and settlers of the New World by the Native Americans.

Fact 9: Who invented Popcorn? According to myth and legend Quadequina the brother of Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoags brought a deerskin bag of popped corn for the first Thanksgiving feast on October 15, 1621.

Fact 10: Who invented Popcorn? Why do corn kernels pop?Pop corn expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. When pop corn is heated, pressure builds within the kernel, and a small explosion (or "pop") is the end result.


Fact 11: Who invented Popcorn? Pop corn is one of six different types of corn (maize), pod corn, sweet corn, flour corn, dent corn, flint corn, but the 'Zea mays everta', the tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels, is the only variety to produce kernels that pop.

Fact 12: Who invented Popcorn? How hot does it have to be to make pop corn? Kernels "pop" at 100°C (212°F).

Fact 13: Who invented Popcorn? In the mid 1800's Popcorn became hugely popular at fairs and carnivals across the United States.  The first steam-powered popcorn maker was created by Charles Cretors in at the C. Cretors & Company in 1885 and street vendors also began to sell the delicious snack. Charles Cretors took his newly designed machine and wagon to the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893 where it was an instant hit with the public.

Fact 14: Who invented Popcorn? In the 1920's Americans fell in love with the movies and by 1929 an average of 100 million Americans went to the movies on a weekly basis. Street vendors found more customers with the movie goers and began selling popcorn outside movie theaters. Not wanting to lose out on profits, movie theaters began to sell their own popcorn and the tradition of eating this famous snack when watching movies continues to this day.

Fact 15: Popcorn is grown across 25 States in America. The top five major popcorn producing States are Nebraska (27%), Indiana (21%), Illinois (13%), Ohio (9 percent), and Missouri (6%).

Fact 16: When sugar was rationed during WW2 (1939 - 1945) Americans chose popcorn as their favorite snack, eating three times as much popcorn as they had before the war.

Fact 17: The First Microwave Popcorn was Invented in 1946 by Dr. Percy Spencer, an employee for the Raytheon Corporation who invented the Microwave Oven in 1945.

Fact 18: Since 1958, there has been an annual “National Popcorn Day" in America that is celebrated at the end of January. It is enjoyed as a sweet or savory snack, caramelized, buttered or plain.

Fact 19: Today, the average American eats nearly 70 quarts of the snack each year.

Fast Info and Fact File:  Country of Origin: Americas *** Name of Inventor: Unknown *** Date of Invention: c. 3000 *** Invention *** Invention Era: Ancient Times (3000 - 1800 BC) *** Invention category: Food and Drink ***

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