• 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:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Related

You May Also Like…

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

Statue of Yaa Asantewaa

The history of Nana Yaa Asantewaa: The lion-hearted queen mother




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

No Events

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

Trending

  • History of Canada - From colonisation to independence
    History of Canada - From colonisation to independence
  • Holy Wars: The blood-soaked legacy of conflicts fought in the name of Christianity
    Holy Wars: The blood-soaked legacy of conflicts fought in the name of Christianity
  • The colonisation of India
    The colonisation of India
  • Afro-Caribbean religions: Voodoo, Santería, and Obeah
    Afro-Caribbean religions: Voodoo, Santería, and Obeah
  • The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence
    The history of South Africa: From colonisation to independence
  • The British Empire: An overview of empire and colonisation
    The British Empire: An overview of empire and colonisation
  • British Slave-ownership database - See who benefited from slavery
    British Slave-ownership database - See who benefited from slavery
  • The Birth of the National Health Service: A revolutionary moment in British history
    The Birth of the National Health Service: A revolutionary moment in British history
  • 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
  • History of the Chagos Islands: A tale of colonialism
    History of the Chagos Islands: A tale of colonialism

Connect

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

Copyright © 2025 · Our History · All Rights Reserved