1. Corn was first popped by Indigenous people of the Americas. In the areas now called New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru, archaeologists have found evidence the snack food was eaten over 6,000 years ago.
2. In Quechua, the language of the Incas, the word for popcorn is kamcha. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, it is momochitl. The modern scientific name is Zea mays Everta.
3. Zea mays Everta is a type of flint corn, named thus because its outer shell is as hard as flint.
4. Red, yellow, and blue flint corn has been cultivated in Maine by both Indigenous people and colonial and present-day farmers.
5. Popcorn’s hard-as-flint shell serves as a pressure cooker. When popcorn kernels are heated, the water inside turns to steam. When the temperature hits 355 degrees, the pressure inside gets to be too much, and POP goes the kernel!
6. An exploding popcorn kernel can shoot as high as three feet in the air.
7. There are two shapes the foamy corn starch pops into: the “snowflake” and the “mushroom.”
8. Chicagoan Charles Cretor invented the mobile popcorn cart in the 1880s.
9. Maine native Perry Spencer patented the microwave in 1945, setting the stage for easy popcorn making. In fact, popcorn was part of how he tested his invention.
10. If you’re interested in growing your own popcorn in Maine, the University of Maine recommends varieties that will mature in under 110 days, like Strawberry, Cherry Berry, Perdue 410, Gourmet Mushroom, and Top Pop.
