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In this September 10, 1958 file photo, hot dogs are cooked on the grill as customers line up at at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York. For decades, the showmen behind the annual Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest on the 4th of July have been telling reporters the tradition began in 1916 with a showdown between patriotic immigrants on the Coney Island boardwalk. That would make this Monday, July 4, 2016 contest a centennial, of sorts, except for an inconvenient truth: the backstory was invented in the 1970s by PR men trying to get the hot dog stand on the map. (Photo by AP Photo)
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