Cornflakes were invented by accident in 1894.
In 1894, a doctor called John Harvey Kellogg was running a sanatorium for patients with digestive problems. He wanted to create a food that would be easy to digest and provide some nutritional value, so he created the first batch of cornflakes. They were originally made from whole grains of corn, but were later changed to be made from just the grain’s starchy endosperm.
Kellogg thought that his cereal would help people with digestive problems, but his brother Will believed it could be sold to more people. The brothers fought over who owned the rights to the cereal and ended up going their separate ways. Will Kellogg created a new company which he named after himself, while John Harvey Kellogg went on to found the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. Both companies still exist today.
