The Evolution of Corn

From James Kennedy, via Vox:

The evolution of corn (maize) is a fascinating story. For a long time, scientists couldn't figure out where domesticated corn originally came from — it doesn't look like anything that grows in the wild. It took serious sleuthing by geneticists, botanists, and archaeologists to figure out that maize split off from teosinte grass some 9,000 years ago. (The two are surprisingly similar at the DNA level, differing by just a handful of genes.)
As maize became domesticated in Mesoamerica, it was radically altered through selective breeding. Early farmers would examine their plants and save the seeds of those that were larger, or tastier, or whose kernels were easier to grind. By 4,000 BC, cobs were already an inch long. And within just a few thousands years, cobs had grown to many times that size.
Nowadays, corn is grown all over the planet and selective breeding is still ongoing — though in recent decades it's also been combined with genetic engineering. Scientists have inserted genes from Bt soil bacteria into corn in order to ward off pests. And some researchers are now hoping to develop corn varieties that can withstand drought. And so on.

Pretty amazing.  Heck, in my lifetime, corn yields have gone up by over 40%.  They also have charts for watermelons and peaches.