National Cotton Candy Day
June 11
In 1897, a dentist in Nashville, Tennessee named Dr. William Morrison and a candy maker named John C. Wharton got together and invented a device that melted crystallized sugar and blew it through a fine screen, which would create the threads of cotton candy. They then packaged the threads in small, wood boxes. The two creators introduced their machine and the cotton candy at the 1904 St. Louis Fair and sold thousands of boxes of cotton candy. At the time, it was not known as cotton candy but rather, fairy floss. Later on, in 1921, another dentist by the name of Dr. Josef Lascaux in New Orleans improved the design of the machine and he trademarked the name “Cotton Candy.”
National Corn on the Cob Day
June 11
The ScienceKids.com site tells us corn is called maize by most countries; this comes from the Spanish word ‘maiz’. Corn is a cereal crop that is part of the grass family. An ear or cob of corn is part of the flower and an individual kernel is a seed. On average an ear of corn has 800 kernels in 16 rows. Corn will always have an even number of rows on each cob. A bushel is a unit of measure for volumes of dry commodities such as shelled corn kernels. 1 Bushel of corn is equal to 8 gallons. A bushel of corn can sweeten 400 cans of soft drink. As of 2012, the United States produces 40% of the world’s total harvest making it the biggest maize producer in the world (273,832,130 tons produced in 2012).
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Gene Wilder – Actor – born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dr. Oz – Physician & TV Personality – born in Cleveland, Ohio
