J. H. and W. K. Kellogg (yes, Kellogg of the cereal empire) got a patent in 1895 for a "Process of Preparing Nutmeal" which produced a pasty adhesive substance they called nut-butter.
At some point, however, in the 1890s a doctor by the name of Ambrose Straub had a peanut butter making machine patented in order to provide protein to toothless elderly. Hmm.
Who knows who did what first, all I know is I sure do love Jiffy!
And this isn't exactly a holiday but in case anyone was wondering (I'm pretty sure you weren't) today is the anniversary of the discovery of Genie. On November 4, 1970, Genie, a feral child at the approximate age of 13, was discovered. She had spent her entire life in a basement strapped to a chair. She's the most severe case of documented social isolation in history. Her father was extremely abusive, not allowing her to vocalize and not allowing anyone to speak to or around her. At the age of 13 she had a vocabulary of 20 words (the equivalent of a 22 month old child). At first, a social worker guessed Genie to be about 6 or 7 and possibly have autism. After a lot of therapy, care and nurturing Genie learned social skills, grew her vocabulary and became a quite pleasant girl. She was studied mostly by scientists and psychologists with an interest in verbal development. The most interesting thing about her was her indescribable abilities to communicate non-verbally. There were several instances where, when in public, complete strangers would give her or her care-givers toys, etc, without having been asked. It's like Genie had an ability to draw people to her. Ahh, psychology.
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