Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

And here is your 30-second summary.

Marjorie Post was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but breakfast cereal sure provided her with one before her 10th birthday.

She parlayed her father's company into a major food conglomerate and lived large as the Duchess of Washington, D.C., and the Queen of Palm Beach.

With philanthropy, square dancing, and re-Antoinette earrings.

The End.

Let's talk about Marjorie Maryweather Post.

But first let's drop her into history.

In 1914, what we now know of as World War I began in Europe.

The stock from Merrill Lynch was founded and Greyhound Lines, the bus company, began.

The City of Beverly Hills, California was incorporated. Vodvilian Harry Fox invented a brand new dance called The Fox Trot.

Though it would take eight years to complete, construction began on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Harry Plott's identified the bacteria that caused typhus, and the first liquid-fueled rocket engine was patented.

First comic book writer of Superman, Jerry Siegel, the first actor who played Superman on TV George Reaves, as well as Heady Lamar, Tyrone Power, Baseball's Harry Carey, and Joe Demaggio were all born.

Engineer George Westinghouse and Archduke Ferdinand of Austria both died.

And in 1914, upon the death of her father, Marjorie Maryweather Post inherits a fortune and begins growing a food empire.

Marjorie Maryweather Post was born on March 15, 1887 in Springfield, Illinois, the second but only surviving child of Charles William Post, known to all as CW and his childhood sweetheart Ella, Latisha, Maryweather.

We don't know a lot about Marjorie's mama except for the highlights, which unfortunately are tragedies. Her father died when she was only 10, and then her mother died a few years afterward, leaving her an orphan at 15.

And though mama was the second youngest of seven siblings, her inheritance was large enough to give her a degree of financial independence.

Uncle living nearby took Ella in its Marjorie's Papa, whose work left a lasting impact on history.

Marjorie's father CW was one of those smart men who made his wealth in the gold rush, not by mining gold, but by selling equipment and supplies to the gold miners.

We always say that pancakes and pickaxes was where the money is in the rush.

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