Fairy floss, which is also known as cotton candy, was invented in 1897 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, by dentist William Morrison and confectioner John C. Wharton. They created an "electric candy machine" that melted sugar and spun it through tiny holes to form the airy confection. They patented their invention on December 23, 1897, and introduced "fairy floss" to the public at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, where it became a crowd favorite. The term "cotton candy" was later popularized by another dentist, Josef Lascaux, in 1921, but the original invention and name "fairy floss" are credited to Morrison and Wharton.
