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.

CARLATA BRADLEY

On this day in 1943, work was completed on the Pentagon and it was dedicated as the world’s largest office building located just outside
Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. The structure covers 34 acres of
land and has 17 miles of corridors.

The first National Football League (NFL) Super Bowl was played on
this day in 1967. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City
Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10.

Even though ticket prices averaged just $12, it was the only Super Bowl that
didn’t sell out. The game aired on two different networks, NBC and CBS and
drew in an audience of more than 61,000 fans. The popularity of the event
continued to grow after the leagues integrated.

Super Bowl I – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Packers quarterback Bart Starr.

Football great and TV commentator Frank Gifford (second from left).

SANDY KOZEL

Meet the Beatles! was the first US Beatles album to be issued by
Capitol Records in both mono and stereo formats. It topped the
popular album chart on 15 February 1964 and remained at the
number one spot for eleven weeks before being replaced by The
Beatles’ Second Album.

Sir Roderick (Rod) David Stewart is 73 years old today.

Rod Stewart released over 60 hit singles and, in 2008, was named the 17th
most successful artist on the The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists.

In 2006, he won a Grammy Award for the best Best Traditional Pop Vocal
Album for Stardust…The Great American Songbook Volume III. He has a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which was received in 2007.

ED DANAHUE

Thomas Edison gave his first public demonstration of incandescent lighting to an audience in Menlo Park, NJ. on this day in 1879.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park on the
day of the demonstration in response to public enthusiasm over the event.

Although the first incandescent lamp had been produced 40 years earlier, no inventor had been able to come up with a practical design until Edison, after
countless tests, developed a high-resistance carbon-thread filament that
burned steadily for hours and an electric generator sophisticated enough to
power a large lighting system.

Thomas Edison’s greatest contribution to the modern industrial world came
from his work in electricity. He acquired 1,093 patents in his lifetime and
died in 1931 at the age of 84.

The 1879-Thomas-Edison -Longines-Wittnauer-
Bronze-Commemorative-Medal.

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is 81 years old today.

Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins is best known for his portrayal
of the ingenious serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence
of the Lambs (1991), a role that won him the Academy Award
for Best Actor. He has also played roles in The Mask of Zorro 
(1998), and Nixon (1995). He turned to TV in 2016 upon landing
a starring role on HBO’s Westworld.

Anthony Hopkins portraying Hannibal Lecter from The Silence
of the Lambs.

ROSS SIMPSON

Actor Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is 63 years old today.

Denzel Washington won an Academy Award for Best Actor for
his role in the 2001 film Training Day. He has starred in several
films based on true events such as Remember the Titans (2000), 
Cry Freedom (1987), American Gangster (2007), Flight (2012), 
and Malcolm X (1992). 

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