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Mr. Sandwich? No matter how you slice it, the sandwich invented by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich remains a mainstay of Americana today.

Believe it or not, in 1943, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture banned the sale of sliced bread in an effort to hold down prices during an era of wartime rationing. 

Did you know that the infamous Salem "Witch Trials" have a connection with bread? 
Ergot is a fungus that often developed in diseased cereal crop and grasses. Victims of ergot poisoning often suffered from paranoia, hallucinations, twitches and spasms. This led many to suspect their neighbors of witchcraft and consorting with the devil.

Thousands of years ago in the Stone Age, people made flat bread from stone-crushed barley and wheat. A millstone used for grinding corn was discovered in modern day Arizona that is thought to be 7,500 years old!
 
Have you ever wondered why there are 13 bagels in a baker's dozen? In 1298 in England, heavy fines were inflicted on bakers for selling bread that didn't conform to local weight laws. A Baker's Dozen assured the weight was equal or greater than mandated by law.

Iowa-born salesman and inventor Otto Frederick Rohwedder built a mechanical bread slicer in 1912 but had quite a bit of difficulty perfecting the process. In 1928, St. Louis baker Gustav Papendick put the sliced loaves in cardboard trays to support them as they were wrapped. In less than a year, the bread industry was revolutionized.

The longest bread on record in the United States was baked in 1987, and was 2,357 feet 10 inches long. That's almost half a mile.

Legend has it that in 1683 in Vienna, Austria, a local Jewish baker wanted to thank the king of Poland for protecting his countrymen from Turkish invaders. He made a special hard roll in the shape of a riding stirrup-Bugel in German - commemorating the king's favorite pastime and giving the bagel its distinct shape.