 So pumpkins. Yeah, they're like that awkward kid who's all quirky and doesn't really find their stride until they're older, but once they do, oh, yeah, they're the coolest kid in town. And if you're watching this video, I'm pretty sure pumpkins have already fascinated you in one way or another. You love pumpkins? I love pumpkins. We're people who love pumpkins. And now, the history of pumpkins part two. Amazing pumpkin fact! Pumpkins in literature. Literature has always been a great way to increase the popularity of various herbs and edibles, and this is certainly the case with pumpkins. Shakespeare uses pumpkins' early name, Pompeons, in his play, The Merry Wives of Windsor. We'll use this unwholesome humidity, this gross water, Pompeon. Well, it's not the nicest mention, but as they say, any press is good press. Now, I mentioned in the history of pumpkins that the first actual use of the word pumpkin in print was in Cinderella. But so you're clear, this wasn't from the brother's grim telling of the classic tale. It was first found in 1697 in Charles Perrault's Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper, which was the first version to actually use the fairy godmother turning a pumpkin into a carriage. One of the earliest recipes for pumpkin pie was in John Jocelyn's book, An Account of Two Voyages to New England. And while it's a pumpkin pie, he describes that it needs to taste tart, like an apple. Much later, pumpkins got another big push thanks to Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And do we even need to mention the impact Charles shows us it's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown has had? It was pretty obvious. The Prime Pumpkin. Now, the most common type of pumpkin you'll find these days is the Connecticut Field Pumpkin. Now, of this type of pumpkin, there is a specific varietal developed from a man from Massachusetts named John Howden. And why is this important? Well, good old Johnny Boy had been growing pumpkins since the 1940s. But one year, a seed salesman was curious about where John was getting these remarkable new pumpkins he was growing. The answer was he had actually bought the seeds from that same seed salesman. Over the years, Howden had taken these seeds and developed them into a new type of pumpkin, which became known in 1977 as the Howden Pumpkin. Thanks to the plant variety protection patent. Yes, that's a real thing. And to this day, the Howden Pumpkin is the one most commonly used for pumpkin carving on Halloween. Ooh, it's time for amazing pumpkin facts. Pumpkins are now grown on every continent, except Antarctica. Yeah, it's kind of hard to grow things on ice. Morton, Illinois calls itself the pumpkin capital of the world. And with good reason, as Illinois is one of the top producers of pumpkins in the world. And Morton is also home to one of the pumpkin industry's biggest producers, the Libby's Corporation, which is responsible for about 80% of all canned pumpkins on the earth. Most pumpkins are over 90% water, making them one of the highest water content fruits available. Pumpkins are also very seasonal, with about 80% of pumpkins grown being available only around October. And now for something completely different. The annual Pumpkin Chunken World Championships has teams launching pumpkins in incredible distances. The world record is currently just under one mile. But wait, you think that's it? Oh, there's a truckload of other pumpkin records too! The Guinness Book of Pumpkin Records! Lots of people like to talk about the world's heaviest pumpkin, which is just over breaking news. This just in. The record was just broken in 2021, by almost 100 pounds, coming in now at 2,702 pounds. Or how about the world's largest pumpkin pie on record at over 3,699 pounds? That's a big pie! But Guinness has a variety of other records that are equally weird and amazing. There are various records for the longest line of pumpkins and the longest line of carved pumpkins. The largest pumpkin sculpture was of a zombie apocalypse, and it is truly mind-blowing. Similar to the Pumpkin Chunken World Championships, the farthest distance to fire a pumpkin came in at just over one mile. There are also a variety of records for carving pumpkins. The most pumpkins smashed in one minute, but the funniest, and I'd say funnest records as well, go to the Pumpkin Boat Racing. Yes, this is a thing, and it's serious business. We have the longest journey by Pumpkin Boat, the fastest to go 100 meters by a pumpkin. And then there is the longest running Pumpkin Boat Race, the Pumpkin Regatta and Parade, which has been held annually since 1999 in Windsor, Canada. But if you want a truly epic display, then look no further than the record for the most carved and lit pumpkins displayed, which was officially set in 2013 in King New Hampshire. It was a whopping 30,581 pumpkins by Camp Sunshine and the Life Is Good Company. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see them break this record again soon because the city of King has already broken this record nine different times. Woo! That is a lot of pumpkin facts, my friends. What is your favorite story involving pumpkins? Let me know in the comments down below. If you want some more fun history or pumpkin madness, then watch either of these videos. Please be kind, take care of each other, and have fun sharing these stories next time you're having some pumpkin or pumpkin pie.