On August 19 each year, the humble potato takes center stage.
- 8000 BC – The Inca in Peru are the first in the world to cultivate the potato.
- 1536 – The Spanish Conquistadors invade Peru. They bring potatoes back to Europe.
- 1802 – Thomas Jefferson serves French-fried potatoes at the White House.
- 1836 – Idaho only started growing potatoes in 1836,
- 1845 – One main cause of the Great Famine in Ireland was a potato disease known as potato blight. The shortage of potatoes led to the death of around 1 million people who were dependent on them as a food source.
- 1890s – back in the 1890s potatoes were so valuable they were traded for gold directly
- 1995 – potato plants were taken into space with the space shuttle Columbia. This marked the first time any food was ever grown in space.
- 2002 – Potatoes reach their silver screen peak in this famed cameo from ‘Lord of the Rings — The Two Towers.”
- 2016 – China produced the most potatoes at more than 99 million tons.
- The United States comes in 5th behind India, Russia, and Ukraine.
- Potatoes are 80% water.
- The world’s largest potato weighed in at 18 pounds, 4 ounces according to the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s enough for 73 portions of medium fries at McDonalds.
- Potatoes are among the most environmentally friendly vegetables. They’re easy to grow, and don’t require massive amounts of fertilizer and chemical additives to thrive like many other vegetables do.
- The average American eats 140 pounds of potatoes per year. Germans are among biggest potato lovers as they eat more than 200 pounds of potato per year.
- Potatoes are also used to brew alcoholic beverages such as vodka, potcheen, or akvavit.
- The sweet potato belongs in the same family as morning glories while the white potato belongs to the same group as tomatoes, tobacco, chile pepper, eggplant and the petunia.
- The word potato comes from the Spanish word patata.
- Despite health concerns, potato chips are one of the most common snack foods in the world with billions of packets consumed every year.
- There are over 4000 different kinds of potatoes. They also come in a variety of beautiful colors and sizes.
- This starchy carbohydrate comes with no fat or cholesterol and is loaded with Vitamin C and potassium.
- An 8 ounce baked or boiled potato has only about 100 calories.
- When you buy a potato it is still alive
- The world’s largest potato chip crisp (on exhibit at the Potato Museum) was produced by the Pringle’s Company in Jackson, TN, in 1990. It measures 23″ x 14.5″.
Sources
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