I was excited to learn that two of my favorite things, New York City and gum, have a bit of shared history. Here's the short version: 

In 1869, General Santa Anna, eleven-time former President of Mexico, was exiled in Staten Island, staying with Thomas Adams, a former photographer he had met decades before. 

Santa Anna thought chicle could be mixed with rubber to make cheaper tires and suggested it to Adams as a business...

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