Serena Williams Is on the Wheaties Box, but How Did This Tradition Come to Be?

Let's all give it up for Serena Williams. She made it on the Wheaties cover! This is an important, albeit odd, milestone for any athlete (I guess the 23 Grand Slams and four Olympic gold medals are chump change), and Williams said in a General Mills blog post that she hopes her "image on this iconic box will inspire the next generation of girls and athletes to dream big." What's with Wheaties, anyway?!