Invention of corn flakes by John Harvey Kellogg

John Harvey Kellogg was born on February 26, 1852 in Tyrone, Michigan to his parents John Preston and Ann Janette Stanley Kellogg.

He graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1875. In the 1890s, Dr John Harvey was the head of a medical department. He was also head of the nutrition department and since he was a vegetarian, he fed everyone stuff made from grains and vegetables. In 1894 Dr John Harvey Kellogg and his younger brother, Will Kellogg invented a new way of processing corn: they steamed and softened the kernels, added flavorings and then flattened it by feeding it through two steel rollers.

The resulting flakes were then bale in an oven. This process created a cereal they called toasted corn flakes, which the Kellogg brothers served at their sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.

On May 31, 1894 John Harvey filed for a patent on “flaked cereal and process of preparing same.” The patent covered flakes prepare from barley, oats and other grains as well as those made from wheat. On March 7, 1897, Dr John Harvey dished up the first serving of corn flakes at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
Invention of corn flakes by John Harvey Kellogg