On August 24, 1869, an American inventor named Cornelius Swartwout filed a patent for a waffle iron.
Up until then, most people cooked waffles by pouring batter into hinged plates with long wooden handles. Swartwout’s invention had a special design that allowed breakfast makers to open, close, and turn the waffle iron, spreading the batter evenly.
To commemorate this great moment in breakfast history, August 24 is celebrated in the United States as National Waffle Day.
If the waffle iron in your kitchen has been modified to include miniaturized infrared diodes, it can help you find super-secret clues. Once you get used to taking a closer look at things, you’ll find that there are messages hidden in all kinds of places—even in words that seem like gibberish!
Compare the shaded squares in these waffles with any crazy, mixed-up letters that your annoying kid brother shows you. He might not even realize it, but there’s a secret message waiting for you. Whoa, Nelly!