Amazing corn maze

Have you visited a corn maze during this rapidly dwindling autumnal season?

Have you ever visited a corn maze? Maybe scampered through one as a child?

If I asked you when the corn maze was first invented, what year would you guess?

What century would you guess?

Would you believe me if I told you that the very first corn maze was constructed in…

1993.

Yes, that’s right. In the same year that the source code for the internet was first made public and Beanie Babies were introduced to the world, the very first corn maze in history was created after a man named Don Frantz looked down on midwestern farmland during a cross-country flight, saw the clean lines of the fields, and envisioned an American version of the English mazes designed from hedgerows.

1993! Less than 30 years ago!

This reminds me of inventions like wheels on suitcases and self-adhesive postage stamps:

Things that should’ve been invented a long time ago.

Here’s a fun game to play with people:

Ask anyone over the age of 40 if they remember wandering in a corn maze as a small child. I’ve been asking people ever since I learned about this 1993 date, and many say yes, meaning they have a false memory of wandering around something that did not exist in their childhood.

Watching them try to square that circle is quite amusing.

This video below is a great history of the corn maze, as well as an explanation as to how they are constructed.