National Bacon Day is Saturday: 10 Facts About the Cured Meat

A cook at Rico's Diner makes a bacon sandwich August 17, 2010 in Oakland, California. As Americans consume more bacon, supplies have become short and the price is starting to go up. The price of pork bellies has risen to $1.40 a pound in August, up from 94 cents a pound in June. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

National Bacon Day, which falls on Saturday, Aug. 31, and here are some facts about the popular pork product.

- Bacon or “bacoun” is Middle English that refers to pork products in general, but it later evolved into meaning what it means today. 

- However, bacon goes back father than that. Apparently, the first bacon was made in China around 1500 BCE when people started preserving and salting pork bellies.

- When Julius Ceasar landed on the British Isles in 55 BCE, it is thought that he had bacon with him.

- William Shakespeare mentions bacon in “Henry IV, Part 1” and “Merry Wives Of Windsor.”

- In 1924, Oscar Meyer patented packed, sliced bacon. He was the first to do so.

- More than 2 billion pounds of bacon are produced in the United States each year.

- Bacon is often made from the belly of pigs. But bacon is also prepared from two distinct back cuts.

- Bacon, lettuce, and tomato (BLT) sandwiches apparently became popular during World War II when supermarkets started making fresh tomatoes and lettuce year-round.

- In the U.S., more than two-thirds of bacon that is consumed is eaten during breakfast time.

- One bacon strip contains about 40 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 1.7 grams of saturated fat, 120mg of sodium, and 2.5 grams of protein.