It is English! No, it is American! No English! No American!

For some reason or another, my husband & I were chatting last night about Johnson & Johnson baby products. He made some off-hand comment about them being an English company...  ... and I said no, actually it started in America! We both *swore* the company originated in our own countries... Enter Google. So I won that one. But he was quick to remind me that I once swore up and down that Iron Maiden was from America! I felt pretty stupid after that one....

We seem to have these conversations every so often, wondering where something was "born" when they are popular on both sides of the Atlantic. He was genuinely surprised about Johnson & Johnson.... and I was genuinely surprised when I found out Kit Kats weren't an American invention!

Anyone else surprised by something's origin?

I swore AC/DC was American. If I think of more, I'll add it.

Where is Kit Kat from by the way? 

Thomas' English Muffins

I thought they were English....

We recently had an argument about whether Dom Joly was American or English.  I always thought he was American & Stu thought he was English - we googled and it turns out he's Lebanese!

I also always thought Dime bars were American but they're Swedish or Norwegian or something.

Kit Kats are an English invention...

According to the BBC:

"The Kit Kat was invented by Britain's Rowntree confectionery company back in 1935, but until 1937 was called the Chocolate Crisp."

Thoma's English Muffins

I thought they were English....

I pointed those out to Rich in NY once.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  Had no idea what they were.

Where is Entenmann'sfrom.......I looked it up!  I knew it was the US!  My MIL BF insisted it ws the UK!  http://entenmanns.gwbakeries.com/history.cfm

Kit Kats are an English invention...

According to the BBC:

"The Kit Kat was invented by Britain's Rowntree confectionery company back in 1935, but until 1937 was called the Chocolate Crisp."

Oh wow I never knew that! I thought they were all-American, with those cheesy "gimme a break" commercials.

Yeah I used to ask Phil about english muffins and he's just kept saying WTF are you on about.

Oh wow I never knew that! I thought they were all-American, with those cheesy "gimme a break" commercials.

Me either, I found a little more history:

KIT KAT is the number one selling candy bar in the U.K. KIT KAT is a licensed brand from Societe Des Produits Nestle S.A. Hershey Foods Corporation's original licensing agreement was executed with Rowntree Products in 1969. In 1988, Nestle purchased Rowntree.

Oh wow I never knew that! I thought they were all-American, with those cheesy "gimme a break" commercials.

That is exactly why I thought they were American! And David thought Johnson & Johnson were English just because he remembered ads from a long time ago! Funny how ads do that...

Another on I got wrong was Bob the Builder. I swore it was American - I guess because of the accents of the characters? But nope... my husband's cousin was right... he's English!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_the_Builder

I thought Jimi Hendrix was British

Kitkats in the US are made by Hershey's, KitKats elsewhere are made by nestle, hence why I think they taste better here

It's not a US/UK thing, but my husband was absolutely convinced that Subaru was a Swedish car manufacturer.

I always thought AC/DC were English.

As for the English Muffin thing - I asked my British friend (who was living in the US at the time) what English Muffins were called in England.  The look she gave me was enough of an answer. 

Hubby and I will get into debates like that too.  But often he's just trying to wind me up.  His recent favourite has been, "Motley Crue is Welsh.  Didn't you know that?"