1. Corn Flakes were supposed to prevent masturbation.
Anti-masturbation dieticians Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and William Keith Kellogg believed that a <a href="http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/kelloggcf.htm" target="_blank">clean, healthy diet </a>of plainer foods like cereal was key to preventing sexual urges. So, they began experimenting with granola as a <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/32042/corn-flakes-were-invented-part-anti-masturbation-crusade" target="_blank">non-stimulating</a> replacement for the average diet. One day, the brothers left a batch of wheat <a href="http://www.inc.com/tim-donnelly/brilliant-failures/9-inventions-made-by-mistake.html" target="_blank">unattended</a> to go address some other matter. When they returned, the wheat was stale, but they attempted to roll it out anyway -- resulting in a flat, thin flake.
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