A to Z Historic Trivia - K

K

The seventh of sixteen children, Will Keith Kellogg’s first vocation was working in his father’s broom manufacturing plant at the age of thirteen. Discovering in himself an aptitude for business, it wasn’t long before he enrolled in a three-month course at a Business College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Meanwhile, Will’s brother, John, had completed medical school and taken a job at the Adventists Health Reform Institute, where Will later joined him as his business manager.

While John worked mainly on developing vegetarian meals for his patients, Will explored possible uses for wheat flakes and discovered how to toast them into nutritional breakfast products. Realizing the potential, the Kellogg brothers expanded the product to include oats, rice, and corn, and in 1879 started a company called Sanitas Food Products. Dr. John Kellogg expressly promoted the cereals as healthy breakfast options, while business manager Will wanted the process kept a secret. Unconcerned of possible consequences, John allowed anyone to view the production of Kellogg breakfast products, including one C.W. Post, who copied the process and started his own company. An infuriated Will Kellogg then parted ways with his brother and founded his own private company: Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906.

By 1930 The Kellogg Company, as it was called, became the first food business to include nutrition labels on packaging, as well as small gifts for kids inside the cereal boxes. Mindful of the needs of his country and the people who worked for him, Will restructured his plant operations to work in four shifts to facilitate more jobs during the Great Depression.

Throughout his life, Will had a passion for Arabian horses. He purchased a 377-acre ranch in Pomona, CA, where he owned and bred the finest in America. The Kellogg Ranch was also the location of the largest privately-owned airport in the country from 1928 to 1932.

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Stephanie Kwolek invented a uniquely strong and light-weight polymer solution in anticipation of a gasoline shortage while working for DuPont Chemical Co. in 1965.  The first commercial usage of Kevlar was to replace the steel in racing tires in 1970.    Since then, over 200 applications, including (but not limited to) armor, racing, safety, cryogenics, shoes, drumheads, and construction materials, have been introduced. Ms. Kwolek was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame and awarded DuPont’s Lavoisier Medal for outstanding technical achievement, as well as the eternal gratitude of every soldier and first responder whose life her invention has saved.