Corn Flakes, the first ever breakfast cereal, were discovered by way of a fortunate accident. But it is the story behind this accident which is especially interesting.

The year was 1894.

It was the year the first motion picture film was patented. Grover Cleveland was president (for the second, non-sequential time). The bubonic plague arrived in Hong Kong.

And, of course, the breakfast cereal was invented.

Born From a Sanitarium

William Keith Kellogg and his brother, Dr. Harvey Kellogg, were fervent Seventh Day Adventists.

Dr. Kellogg was the superintendent at the time of The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, where he forced his patients to adhere to strict diets, in keeping with the strict teachings of Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister and one of America’s very first dietitians (and, yes, the inventor of the graham cracker, although the sweetened crackers that bear his name today really bear very little resemblance to the originals, which were unsweetened and bland).

The dietary regimen in Dr. Kellogg’s sanitarium consisted of all natural, completely vegetarian ingredients; heavy on grains and bowel-quickening foods, while abstaining from all alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.

These unhealthy “vices,” as well as any other foods which possessed an abundance of flavor or spice, were considered by the Kellogg brothers, as per their religious beliefs, to cause the patients to fall into lust and to have increased passions.

Grains, however, specifically corn, were considered at the time to be somewhat of an antaphrodesiac (meaning that it quelled lust), and so the Kellogg brothers set about finding new ways to use it in recipes. Fortunately, taking a cue from the “inventor handbook” of Alexander Fleming (the lucky discoverer of silicone), the brothers’ greatest discovery happened by accident when they left a batch of corn meal sitting out too long, which allowed it to go stale.

The Accidental Birth of Corn Flakes

As a result of this “mistake,” when they tried to press their corn into sheets, the brothers found instead that it turned into tiny little flakes. The brothers were just frugal enough to try to cook these little flakes anyway and pass them off as food to the patients at the sanitarium.

And thus, Corn Flakes were born on April 14, 1894, and the little flakes became insanely popular, skyrocketing the newly founded Kellogg company to astounding heights.

The Second Cereal

Meanwhile, as a side note, a man with failing health named C.W. Post happened to visit The Battle Creek Sanitarium during this period of time.

Unfortunately, Mr. Post couldn't find any respite for his ailments at the sanitarium (he was allegedly cured later while visiting a Christian Scientist). But while under the care of Dr. Kellogg, Mr. Post decided that he would make his own cereal using an idea similar to that of the Kelloggs'.

Upon regaining his health, Post did just that and ended up creating Grape-Nuts, springboarding Post to riches and creating the very first rivalry for the Kelloggs.

And that's the story of cereal's first (and still greatest) rivalry.

Postscript:

Grape-Nuts have never contained as an ingredient either grapes or nuts. One of the original ingredients of the cereal was a form of glucose called “grape sugar,” which differed from normal sugars which are mostly sucrose. Post claimed that this fact, combined with its slightly “nutty” flavor, earned the city its (in?)famous name.

References:

“The Religious Affiliation of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.”

“John Harvey Kellogg Serves Corn Flakes at the San.” News of the Odd.