Will Keith Kellogg

Corn flakes came out of the Battle Creek sanitarium Will ran with his brother John Harvey Kellogg, but the brand was Will's work. He split from his brother, founded his own company in 1906 and put his signature on every box with a warning that no other flakes were genuine, a direct answer to the dozens of copycat cereal firms in town. Heavy advertising and a sugar recipe his brother disliked made it a breakfast staple.