Thursday is National Peanut Butter Day!
Whether you like it smooth or creamy, peanut butter has been around since being patented in 1884 by Marcellus GIlmore Edson. His cooled product had "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment," according to his patent application.
Here are some other fun facts about peanut butter, courtesy of the National Peanut Board:
- It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- By law, any product labeled “peanut butter” in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts.
- Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the United States: Virginia's Thomas Jefferson and Georgia's Jimmy Carter.
- Astronaut Alan Shepard brought a peanut with him to the moon.
- There are six cities in the U.S. named Peanut: Peanut, California; Lower Peanut, Pennsylvania; Upper Peanut, Pennsylvania; Peanut, Pennsylvania, Peanut, Tennessee; and Peanut West Virginia.
