December 30 marks National Bacon Day.
According to the National Day Calendar, Bacon Day has been in existence since 1997.
Here are 10 facts you may not know about one of America’s favorite foods.
1. The average American eats 18 pounds of bacon each year
The country is going through a bacon boom as that comes out to 5,608,654,506 pounds eat in the United States each year.
2. Sliced bacon hit grocery stores in 1924
Oscar Meyer was the first to slice and package it and get it to the American public. Other companies quickly followed suit.
3. It was a part of the moon landing
The entire Apollo 8 crew loved bacon so much they had it as part of every breakfast and even continued eating “space bacon” while they were back on Earth.
4. Bacon refers to the “back” of the pig
It comes from the Germanic root "-bak” which refers to the back of the pig. It was adopted in English in the 12th century and initially all pork products were referred to as “bacoun.”
5. International Bacon Day is Sept. 5
There is one day for us to celebrate in America and one to celebrate bacon with the entire world.
6. It had a different name in ancient Rome
Romans referred to the salt-cured pork as “petaso.”
7. It was used to make explosives in WWII
There was a committee called the American Fat Salvage Committee. The fat was used to make glycerin and citizens were encouraged to donate excess bacon fat to the U.S. government.
8. There’s a bacon church
The United Church of Bacon is based in Las Vegas and has 13,000 members. It as an officially sanctioned church.
9. The World Record for eating bacon is 182 slices in 5 minutes
Yes, you read that right. It was set by Matt Stonie in February of 2015.
10. It could be our national food
According to Smithfield, about 65 percent of Americans would support bacon as the official food of the country.