Popcorn has been popping up in history for thousands of years! The oldest popcorn ever discovered—over 5,600 years old—was found in a cave in New Mexico, proving that ancient civilizations enjoyed this crunchy treat long before movie theaters existed.
Early Indigenous peoples in the Americas used heated sand to pop corn kernels, and popcorn became a staple snack among Aztec and Incan cultures. When European settlers arrived, they quickly adopted popcorn as a favorite food.
By the 1900s, popcorn became a theater staple, thanks to its affordable price and irresistible crunch. Today, Americans consume billions of quarts of popcorn each year—making it one of the most popular snacks in the world!
