14th April: Corn flakes

On this date in 1896 a patent was issued for corn flakes. Here are 10 things you may not know about corn flakes.

1. Corn flakes were discovered by accident. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg ran a sanatorium. One day he and his brother Will Keith Kellogg left some cooked wheat while dealing with other matters, forgot about it and by the time they remembered, it was stale. Being on a strict budget, they decided to use it anyway. When they tried rolling it out, it turned into flakes, which were very popular with their patients when toasted.
2. The diet of Dr Kellogg's patients was intended to be very bland. They weren't allowed meat, alcohol or caffeine, and nothing sweet or spicy because that increased sexual passions. Cornflakes were originally thought to be a great food for preventing masturbation.
3. John Harvey Kellogg was so anti-sex in fact that he never even had sex with his wife. All their children were adopted.
4. The flakes of grain were originally called granose.
5. It was Will Keith Kellogg who decided to sell cornflakes to a wider market. So that they would sell better, he added sugar, much to his brother's disgust. The brothers fell out over this change in the recipe.
6. The Kellogg's corn flakes mascot is called Cornelius (Corny) Rooster.
7. The rooster was adopted as a mascot after a Welsh friend told them that the Welsh word for cockerel is ceiliog (pronounced Kellogg).
8. For 22 years, from 1909, Kellogg's offered a free moving pictures booklet to anyone who bought two boxes of corn flakes.
9. Kellogg’s is an official supplier of breakfast cereals to HM Queen Elizabeth II.
10. 28g of corn flakes contains 100 calories, no fat, 24g carbs and 2g of protein.