I watched an episode of The Food that Built America and learned that cereal was marketed as a breakfast food because it is quick to make and very effort. This meant no one had to wake up early enough to cook a meal as long as they had some milk and a box of cereal.

You, my friend, need to learn about Edward Bernays. The godfather of modern propaganda advertising.

Essentially - bacon producer hired him to boost flagging bacon sales. He got a bunch of doctors to say "eating bacon/eggs/bigger breakfast was GOOD". Publish study, write about it in newspaper. Voila. Doctor sez eat big breakfast with bacon and eggs -> people do it. (this was back when people trusted doctors).

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Disclaimer, I don't know the exact answer to this, but a while back I did come across this fascinating BBC doc on the "origins" of modern breakfast, lunch, and dinner traditions, from a British perspective. Should apply at least partially to NA. Worth a watch: https://youtu.be/tQk7NjiMAY8