March is a great month to go nuts!   Y’see, it’s the 35th anniversary of National Peanut Month!   So in honor of this, here are a few lesser-known nuggets about one of our favorite treats:

Interesting Peanut Facts:

  • Peanuts have been found in pre-Columbian sites in Zhejiang province in China dating from between 2100-1811 B.C.

  • The Incans of Peru used peanuts as sacrificial offerings and entombed them with their mummies to aid in the spirit life.

  • The first major use of peanut crops in America was as feed for pigs but in the hard times during the Civil War, both Northern & Southern troops began to rely upon the peanut as a food source.

  • Using only his nose, mountaineer Tom Miller pushed a peanut 14,100 feet to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado in just 4 days, 23 hours, and 47 minutes.

  • Peanut butter’s high protein content draws moisture, often causing it to stick to the roof of your mouth.   And the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth is called arachibutyrophobia.

  • "Mr. Peanut," the Planters Nut mascot, is based upon a sketch submitted by a schoolboy for the company’s logo contest.   His drawing won 13-year-old Antonio Gentile a $5 prize in 1916.

  • Although China & India are by far the biggest peanut-growing countries of the world, peanut butter is a distinctly American food product and most other countries never had it prior to the 1960s.

Be sure to check out the other food-related posts here on 2Dolphins.
 

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