On 11 June 1939, at a party organised by President Franklin D Roosevelt, King George V and Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) became the first British monarchs to eat hot dogs.
The origin of the Frankfurter, the first hot dog sausage, is a matter of dispute. In 1987, the city of Frankfurt, Germany, celebrated the 500th birthday of the hot dog. It is said that the Frankfurter was developed there in 1487. Another theory dates the origin to the 16th century when Johann Georghehner, a butcher of Coburg, Germany, invented the "dachshund" sausage.
The first American hot dogs appeared in the 1860s and the earliest recorded use of the term "hot dog" dates back to the 1890s. This seems to refute another theory that the term 'hot dog' was coined by a cartoonist called Tad Dorgan when he was unable to spell "dachshund".
Marlene Dietrich once said her favourite meal was hot dogs and champagne.
Jayne Mansfield was Miss Hot Dog Ambassador 1950.
In January 2005, police on Long Island, NY arrested two women hot dog vendors were arrested for allegedly selling sex alongside items from the usual menu. A police spokesman said the women provided personal services as well as with hot dogs from the vehicle, and had been charged with prostitution after propositioning an undercover police officer. One officer said: "We've never seen hot dogs mixed with prostitution before".
"The noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it" (Lawrence J Peter).
The World Hot Dog Eating Contest is traditionally held on 4 July at Nathan's in Coney Island, New York. On 4 July 2001, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes, nearly doubling the previous world record to win the contest. In competition, Kobayashi favours the 'Solomon method', which involves breaking each hot dog in half, then stuffing both halves simultaneously into his mouth. Others prefer the 'Tokyo style', which is to eat sausage and roll separately.
Kobayashi retained his title for the next five years, but was beated in 2007 and 2008 by Joey Chestnut. The 2008 contest went to a five-dog eat-off after they tied at 59 hot dogs each in 10 minutes.
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