The United States is credited with inventing the potato chip according to the most famous origin story.
That story places the invention in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1853, where chef George Crum supposedly created very thin fried potatoes for a demanding customer. The customer is often identified as Cornelius Vanderbilt, although historians have found no firm evidence connecting him to the event.
Potatoes had already been fried in various forms before this story, so the exact origin is uncertain. The Saratoga version nevertheless became central to American food history and helped popularize the term Saratoga chips. Industrial production later transformed potato chips into a mass-market packaged snack.