• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Our history archive

Our History

Documenting world history and civil rights

General

  • About
  • Cookies and your privacy
  • Privacy policy
  • Contact

Categories

  • Home
  • Colonisation
  • World History
  • Civil Rights
  • World cultures
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Popular Culture
  • Home
  • Colonisation
  • World History
  • Civil Rights
  • World cultures
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Popular Culture

George Crum

Features
21 October, 2007

The potato chip (aka crisps) was invented in 1853 by George Crum. The son of an African-American father and a Native American mother, Crum was a  chef at the Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.

French fries were popular at the restaurant and one day a diner complained that the fries were too thick. Although Crum made a thinner batch, the customer was still unsatisfied. Crum finally made fries that were too thin to eat with a fork, hoping to annoy the extremely fussy customer. The customer, surprisingly enough, was happy – and potato chips were invented!

Years later, Crum opened his own restaurant that had a basket of potato chips on every table. Though Crum never attempted to patent his invention, the snack was eventually mass-produced and sold in bags.




George Crum died on 22 July 1914.

Share this:

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Related

You May Also Like…

Martin Robison Delany

Martin Robison Delany

Black History Month: Standing in Power and Pride 2025

Standing firm in power and pride: Eight Black people who shaped history

Official portrait of Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook: Master navigator and Pacific explorer

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women's liberation in revolutionary Grenada

Phyllis Coard: Architect of women’s liberation in revolutionary Grenada




Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Furness

    20 April, 2016 at 11:39 am

    this guy is a living legend

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Sidebar

This Day In History

Events in History
On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela, who was the leader of the movement to end South African apartheid was released from prison after 27 years.
Martin Robison Delany

Martin Robison Delany

Black History Month: Standing in Power and Pride 2025

Standing firm in power and pride: Eight Black people who shaped history

Official portrait of Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook: Master navigator and Pacific explorer

Trending

  • Understanding Sharia Law: Principles, practice, and global context
    Understanding Sharia Law: Principles, practice, and global context
  • McCarthyism and the Cold War: America's Second Red Scare
    McCarthyism and the Cold War: America's Second Red Scare
  • What are British values?
    What are British values?
  • Genghis Khan: The making of the Mongol Empire
    Genghis Khan: The making of the Mongol Empire
  • This John Hanson was not the first Black President of the United States
    This John Hanson was not the first Black President of the United States
  • Pancake Day: A tradition of faith and feasting
    Pancake Day: A tradition of faith and feasting
  • Five countries that colonised the world
    Five countries that colonised the world
  • Women's suffrage movement in Britain
    Women's suffrage movement in Britain
  • The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire: Six centuries of imperial power
    The rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire: Six centuries of imperial power
  • The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence
    The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence

Connect

  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Bluesky
  • About
  • Cookies and your privacy
  • Privacy policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2026 · Our History · All Rights Reserved