By 1965, Orville and his business partner Charles Bowman perfect their popcorn hybrid - it is light and fluffy, leaves hardly any unpopped kernels, achieves a 44:1 ratio in volume of popped to unpopped corn, and, of course, tastes great.

The popcorn business and other old Hunt-Wesson businesses were sold in 1990 to agribusiness giant Conagra Brands. Hunt-Wesson, Inc.

5 Facts About Orville Redenbacher, The Man Behind The Popcorn

• He Invented His Namesake Strain of Popcorn.
• He Was a Legendary Agricultural Scientist.
• He Didn't Do It Alone.
• He Was Reluctant to Become the Company's Namesake.
• He Never Preferred Microwaving Popcorn.

After graduation, he ran a profitable fertilizer company and in his free time focused on creating the perfect popcorn. He sold the kernels from the back of his car and eventually appeared on television selling what is now known as Orville Redenbacher Popcorn. He died on September 19, 1995, in Coronado, California.

French explorers wrote of Iroquois popping tough corn kernels in pottery jars filled with heated sand. The Iroquois nation spread throughout the Great Lakes region, so it's likely that settlers to upstate New York, Vermont and Quebec were the earliest European-American popcorn makers.

10 Interesting Popcorn Facts

• Interesting Fact #1: Popcorn can pop up to 30 times its size and up to 3 feet in the air.
• Interesting Fact #2: You can cook popcorn in butter, oil, air-pop, and even hot sand.
• Interesting Fact #3: Popcorn has been spotted throughout ancient North, Central, and South America.

By the mid 1970s, Redenbacher and Bowman had captured a third of the unpopped popcorn market. According to industry estimates, the brand, still the national leader in the $1 billion annual popcorn market, accounts for about 45 percent of the microwave market. These amazing successes are not all coming from luck.

The American Pop Corn Company The American Pop Corn Company is a family owned popcorn producer. Founded in 1914, it is the oldest popcorn company in the United States. Its only brand, Jolly Time, is sold globally and in every state in America.

Microwave popcorn was first discovered in 1945. Perry Spencer discovered that popcorn would pop when placed near a microwave. Mr. Spencer led the way to development of the microwave oven.

Orville Redenbacher's Ultimate Butter This is it, folks: The all-around best popcorn on our list - especially if you're all about the butter. The label reads popping corn, palm oil, salt, butter and natural flavor and colors. It's free of artificial preservatives, flavors and dyes to boot.

Orville Redenbacher's Original Yellow Gourmet Popcorn Kernels are the highest quality for popping on the stovetop, in your air popper, or in an electric popper. These 100% natural, Non-GMO Project Verified whole-grain and gluten-free original popcorn kernels are a delicious, yet wholesome snack.

The first microwave popcorn was released in 1981; it contained perishable butter and required refrigeration. Another version, by Pillsbury, came frozen. It was an undeniable hit: Within two years, microwave popcorn was available nationally and brought in $53 million in sales, according to a New York Times report.