John Hannon and James Baker opened the first chocolate factory in United States

In 1730, chocolate manufacturing becomes a mass production when a mechanical cocoa grinding process is introduced.

Chocolate production in the United States grew faster than anywhere else in the world. The first wholly machine-made chocolate was produced in Barcelona, Spain in 1780.

It was during pre-revolutionary New England – 1765 the first chocolate factory was established in America. It was first manufactured in 1765 by Irish-born chocolatier John Hannon and physician James Baker. They opened the first chocolate factory at Milton Lower Mills, near Dorchester, Massachusetts.

John Hanan brought the cocoa beans from the West Indies, thinking they might be used in medicine. In 1780 James Baker produced chocolate made soluble by a reduced cocoa butter content, a product called baker’s chocolate.

James Baker’s descendent Walter Baker hired an employee named Samuel German, who developed a sweet chocolate; which was added to the Baker’s line under Germans name.

In the 1900s, Milton S. Hershey worked zealously at preparing recipe that would compete with the Swiss until he finally came out with a formula which mixed the right combination of sugar and cocoa.

This was amazingly popular with the public that he began to mass produce and distribute chocolate candy very successfully.
John Hannon and James Baker opened the first chocolate factory in United States

Chrysler Corporation

Chrysler was the inventor of the factory rebate concept for automobiles. It pioneered the minivan.

The company was founded by Walter P. Chrysler (1875-1940), a former railroad engineer and manager who rose through the rank at General Motors Corporation, first as a production manager and then as president and general manager of Buick Motor Company. However, in 1920 he fell out with William C. Durant and left his job with GM.

In 1921, he was a chairman of Maxwell-Chalmers Company, the title given by the creditors of Maxwell Motor Company. He used the time to take over and reorganize the Maxwell Motor Company into what became the Chrysler Corporation.

Chrysler changed considerably the nature of the company, and the cars, trucks and later vans that they made. The design team developed the new car, the Chrysler Six, and unveiled it in January 1924. The car was an immediate sensation an Chrysler was able to capitalize on its publicity to obtain the capital he needed to mass produce the Chrysler Six.

In 1928, Chrysler has earned $46 million in profit and was the country’s third largest car manufacturer.

By the early 1990s, the Chrysler management was sufficiently confident to start making new inroads into the European market, with a factory established in Austria.

After flourishing during the 1990s, and early 2000s, there was a downturn in demand. On April 3, 2009, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and established a partnership with Fiat, the Italian automaker.
Chrysler Corporation

Spanish flu in United States in 1918

The epidemic affected the course of history and was a terrifying presence at the of World War I, killing more Americans in a single year than died in battle in World War I, World war II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The second wave of influenza in the United States was triggered in the fall of 1918 by the return troops from Europe. It was appearing among a group of sailors who docked at the Commonwealth Pier in August. And then some of those sailors got sick. On August 28 eight men got the flu. The next day, 58 were sick. By day four, the sick toll reached 81. A week later, it was 119, and that same day t first civilian was admitted to Boston City Hospital sick with flu.

The flu hit Fort Devens, a stone’s throw from Boston. But when the first Fort Devens victim, a soldier of Company B, 42nd Infantry went on sick on the seventh, his illness was diagnosed as cerebrospinal meningitis. Later, overnight, Fort Devens became a scene out of hell.

The Surgeon General of the United States ordered Colonel Victor Vaughan, along with other leading physicians, to inspect and to evaluate conditions at Fort Devens. They were astounded to see for themselves that influenza was spreading like wildfire among the young soldiers.
Spanish flu in United States in 1918

When was instant noodle introduced to the United States?

The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan. Ando Momofuku’s inspiration behind the cupped version of instant ramen was his desire to export instant noodles to the United States and Europe.

In 1970 Nissin formed a US subsidiary to sell instant noodles to the Americans, which began importing bagged ramen from Japan and sold it in the United States under the brand name Top Ramen.

The company began producing “Cup o’ Noodles” in California at the same year and gained acceptance of ramen noodles as a snack/light meal among American consumers. In 1972, Nissin Foods introduced "Nissin Cup Noodles" in a foam food cup, which led to an upsurge in popularity.

Maruchan, the best selling ramen noodle bran in the United States, started out as a frozen fish distributer in Japan. In 1972, the Maruchan division of Toyo Suisan Kaisha opened its first instant ramen production facility in the United States: by 1997 it had three factories.
When was instant noodle introduced to the United States?

History of oats in North America

Oats were cultivated in Switzerland and Northern Europe by 2500 BC, and two millennia later they were widely cultivated in Europe by the ancient Roman, Germans and Celts.

Oats were introduced by the Spanish into the southern part of North America and into the northern part of the continent by the English and North Europeans. Oats were first brought to North America by early explorers such as Captain Bartholomew Gosnold with other grains in 1602 and planted on the Elizabeth Islands off the coast of Massachusetts.

The Dutch grew oats in New Netherland by 1626 and oats were cultivated in Virginia prior to 1648. Oats were generally grown throughout colonial America mainly for animal feed but Scottish, Dutch and other immigrants used them in their traditional porridges, puddings, and baked goods.

As early as 1786, George Washington sowed 580 acres to oats. By the 1860s and 1870s, the westward shift of oat acreage in the United States had moved into the middle and upper Mississippi Valley, which is its major area of production today.

Most oats grown in North America today descend from Russian, Swedish and Greek ancestors. Oats were not widely consumed in North America until the late 19th and early 20th century when the health benefits of oats were more widely understood, due in part to the efforts of physician like Dr. John Kellogg.
History of oats in North America