Happy National Potato Day! Every year August 19 is celebrated as National Potato Day in the US. It is a day that celebrates this versatile veggie. Do we ever need a reason to indulge in some potato goodness? From fries, chips, hash brownies to cutlets and so much more, everything tastes a little better when you have crispy fried potatoes. On any given day, when you are running low on vegetables, just frying potatoes can also serve as an option for a quick meal. On this Potato Day 2020, we tell you some interesting and bizarre facts about these spuds. National Potato Day 2020: From French Fries to Potato Latke, Here Are Five Mouth-Watering Recipes of This Tuber Vegetable (Watch Videos).

Interesting And Bizarre Facts About Potatoes

  • Potatoes have all important nutrients human needs to survive. In order to prove this the Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission ate nothing but potatoes for 60 days. Craving Potato Chips? Science Answers Why You Can’t Stop Eating Them!

  • Potato is the first-ever vegetable to have successfully grown in space. Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia tested the seed potato production in its Astroculture plant growth facility in 1995.

  • The world's largest spud grew in the back garden of Nottinghamshire's farmer. It weighed approximately 3.7 kgs.

  • Tomato and potato can create a hybrid plant called Tomtato. It can grow both potatoes and tomatoes.

  • The Inca people had a goddess of potatoes. Villages would have one particularly odd-shaped potato that would be worshipped in hopes of a bountiful harvest.

  • The Incans also measured the cooking time of potatoes as a unit of time.

  • Potatoes are still alive when you buy them. Don't freak out! They enter a dormant state so if kept for long in a warm place they start sprouting.

  • As much as you love eating chips, it is said that eating a bag of potato chips on a daily basis will give you more radiation than being next to a nuclear plant! Fries vs Chips Has Divided The Internet, Look What is The Difference Between These Potato Snacks.

  • We all know how much air the potato chips packet have. A group of South Korean students once protested against it by building a raft of 160 chips packets and paddled on it, to raise the issue with the company.

  • There is a museum dedicated to potatoes in Idaho, which is also called the Potato State.  The exhibits include the world’s largest potato chip, a timeline history of potato consumption in the US, old vessels that were used for potato storage and other such related things.

  • Some of the weirdest potato chip flavours include Cinnamon and Sugar Potato, Potato Grilled Steak Chips, Prawn Cocktail Chips, Ketchup Potato Chips.

These are some of the interesting facts about your favourite veggie that you may have not known. Share them with your buddies as you munch on your favourite potato snacks!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2020 08:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).