Then & now: Cracker Jack and its signature sailor mascot have
evolved over the years.

One of the oldest American forms of junk food, the Cracker Jack was invented
and trademarked in 1896 when the brothers who formed F.W. Rueckheim &
Bro., mixed molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts together.

Fredrich William Rueckheim

   
Louis Rueckheim
           

Today,January 19, celebrates all of the different ways the corn-based treat      
popcorn can be enjoyed savory or sweet, caramelized, buttered or plain.

The Popcorn Board, a non-profit started in 1998, says Americans consume
13 billion quarts of popcorn a year, more than any other country in the
world.

Celebrated in the U.S. on the first Friday of June of each year, National
Doughnut Day was created by The Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938
to honor those of their members who served doughnuts to soldiers
during World War I. Their goal was to help people in need during the
Great Depression. On this day many doughnut shops will be offering
free doughnuts.

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The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of
Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988,
the law was unanimously amended by both the House and the Senate
and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5,
1988, designating the first Thursday of May as a day of national prayer
and every president since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer
proclamation.

How to celebrate this momentous occasion is an individual’s
choice.