Popcorn might have remained a minor crop in Indiana, on the order of mint or sorghum, if not for plant breeders at Purdue University and one popcorn-obsessed minister by the name of Ira Weaver and ...

But it took a Purdue-trained farmer, educator and agriculturalist with a penchant for putting more pop in popcorn to lift it to star snack status. In the end, he would sell his name to do it.