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28000 BC |
In 2010 it was reported that starch grains found on 30,000-year-old grinding stones suggest that prehistoric man may have dined on an early form of flat bread, contrary to his popular image as primarily a meat-eater. The grinding stones were discovered at sites in Italy, Russia and the Czech Republic. Links: Italy, Russia, Food, Czech Rep., HistoryBC 
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9400 BC 9200 BC |
In 2006 researchers reported the discovery of nine carbonized fig fruits stored in Gilgal I, an early Neolithic village, located in the Lower Jordan Valley, which dated to this time. Links: Food, Jordan, Trees, HistoryBC
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8000 BC |
A genetic mutation among northern Europeans about this time made lactose tolerance continue beyond childhood. Links: Food, DNA, HistoryBC
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8000 BC |
The potato was first cultivated some 10,000 years ago by South American Indians. In the 16th century Spanish explorers brought potatoes back to Europe, where it was first used primarily as livestock feed. The potato was introduced to North America in the 17th century. In the 18th century, the poor of Europe began to use potatoes as a replacement for cereals in their diets. The failure of the potato crop in Ireland in 1845-46 led to great famine and pushed tens of thousands of Irish to emigrate to the United States. In 2008 it was reported that genetic studies by potato experts indicated that all potatoes originated over 10,000 years ago from a single ancestor, Solanum brevicaule, found on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Links: Peru, Food, HistoryBC
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6000 BC |
Researchers in 2007 reported that evidence for the use of chili peppers date back to this time in Ecuador. Botanists if general agreed that chili peppers originated in Bolivia. Evidence for early use was also found in the Bahamas, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Links: Bahamas, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Food, HistoryBC
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5500 BC |
Scientists in 2012 presented evidence of cheese making in pottery sieves discovered in Poland that dated to about this time. Links: Poland, Food, HistoryBC
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1995 BC |
In 2005 Chinese archeologists reported their find of a 4,000 year-old container in northwestern China of noodles made from millet. Links: China, Food, HistoryBC
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400 BC |
Korean farmers about this time brought rice to Japan. Links: Japan, Korea, Food
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10 |
000BC In 2008 it was reported that genetic studies by potato experts indicated that all potatoes originated over 10,000 years ago from a single ancestor, Solanum brevicaule, found on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Links: Peru, Food
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400 500 |
About this time Apicius, a Roman gourmand, authored “De re coquinara” (concerning cookery). It is considered to be the first Western cookbook. The first printed edition came out in 1483. Links: Romans, Food, Books
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800 900 |
In Poland a 9th century edict forbade Jews from baking. The law was supposedly circumvented by boiling bread and then toasting it. This process is believed to have led to the creation of the bagel. Links: Poland, Jews, Food
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1496 |
A Polish edict, pushed by Krakow’s gentile bakers, banned Jews from selling bagels within the city limits. Links: Poland, Jews, Food
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1516 |
In Bavaria, Germany, the Reinheitsgebot (purity law) was enacted. It required that beer be made from malt, hops, yeast, water and nothing else. Links: Bavaria, Germany, Food, Beer
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1577 |
Francisco Hernandez, Spanish explorer traveling through Mexico’s highlands, noted the many uses of the maguey (agave) plant. He cited it as a useful fuel, a material for cloth and ropes, with sap used to make vinegar and wine. Links: Spain, Mexico, Food, Wine, Explorer
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1593 Jul 11 |
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (b.1527), Italian painter, died. Arcimboldo painted representations of objects, such as fruits and vegetables, on the canvas arranged in such a way that the whole collection of objects formed a recognizable likeness of the portrait subject. He painted a portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II composed entirely of vegetables. Links: Artist, Italy, Food
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1602 1603 |
In Russia agricultural failure in 1601 led to widespread starvation in both 1602 and 1603. It claimed the lives of an estimated 2 million people, or about one-third of the population, and more than 100,000 died in Moscow alone. Government inability to alleviate both the calamity and the subsequent unrest eventually led to the overthrow of Czar Boris Godunov, a defining event in Russian history. Links: Russia, Food, Agriculture
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1718 Nov 13 |
John Montagu (d.1792), fourth Earl of Sandwich and purported inventor of the sandwich, was born. In 2012 the town of Sandwich staged a dramatic re-enactment of the moment when the earl was said to have invented the sandwich, to mark the 250th anniversary of the bread-based snack. Links: Britain, Food
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1769 Jul 16 |
Father Junipero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcala, the 1st mission in Calif. The Franciscan friars soon planted cuttings of olive trees. California’s first olive press was established in Ventura County in 1871. Links: USA, California, Mexico, Food
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1770 |
In India a famine wiped out a third of the population of Bengal. This hardened opinion against the British East India Company. Links: Britain, India, Food
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1772 |
The Paris Faculty of Medicine declared potatoes to be an edible food. Links: France, Medical, Food
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1774 Sep 26 |
John Chapman (d.1845), later known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts. A pioneer agriculturalist of early America, Chapman began his trek in 1797, collecting apple seedlings from western Pennsylvania and establishing apple nurseries around the early American frontier. Chapman was a Swedenborgian missionary, a land speculator and an eccentric dresser (he hated shoes and seldom wore them. He planted orchards across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana from seed. Links: USA, Massachusetts, Food, Real Estate
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1792 |
In England consumers began an organized boycott against West Indian sugar. The Anti-Saccharine Society displayed a cross-section of a slave ship with men shackled head-to-toe like sardines. Links: Britain, Black History, Food, Slavery
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1798 |
Thomas Robert Malthus authored his “An Essay on the Principle of Population As it affects the future improvement of society with remarks on the speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and other writers.” His forecast for a population crash was based on the calculation that it was impossible to improve wheat yields as fast as people make babies. His 2nd edition in 1803 introduced the idea of moral restraint. Links: Britain, Writer, Food, Economics
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1824 |
The first company to come out with the paper milk carton was the Toronto East India Company, which developed it in 1824 due to a glass shortage. Links: Technology, Food, Inventor, Glass
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1825 |
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), French lawyer and professor, invented the genre of food writing with his book “The Physiology of Taste.” Links: France, Writer, Food, Books
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1826 Feb 2 |
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (b.1755), French lawyer and epicure, died. “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” His famous work, Physiologie du goût (The Physiology of Taste), was published in December 1825, two months before his death. Links: France, Food
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1830 |
The government of Peru exempted guano from taxes. The commercial mining and export of the rich fertilizer soon followed. Links: Peru, Food
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1835 Sep 13 |
Ladd & Co. began the 1st sugar cane plantation in Hawaii. Links: Food, Hawaii
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1843 |
The tiny island of Ichaboe (Namibia) was found to be covered in guano and a rush to mine it followed. By 1850 the island was again deserted. Links: Food, Namibia
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1845 Feb 18 |
John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, died in Allen County, Indiana. In 1954 Robert Price authored Johnny Appleseed: Man and Myth.” Links: USA, Food, Indiana, Biography
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1845 |
The Economist Magazine began tabulating a food price index. Links: Britain, Food, Magazine
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1847 |
Britain passed a Vagrancy Act to combat begging as famine swept Ireland. Links: Britain, Ireland, Food
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1847 |
Sweet chocolate made its debut. Links: Food
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1848 |
It was discovered that palm oil, a native of West Africa, grew well in the Far East. By 2010 Indonesia and Malaysia produced 90% of the world’s palm oil. Links: Indonesia, Malaysia, Food
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1848 |
John Curtis produced the first commercial chewing gum in his home kitchen in Maine. In 1850 he established the world’s first chewing gum factory in Portland. Links: USA, Maine, Food
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1850 |
Guiseppe Bazzuro turned an abandoned ship into San Francisco’s 1st Italian restaurant. Links: SF, Food
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1851 |
Haas Bros. began operations in San Francisco as a grocery wholesaler. The company later switched to liquor wholesales. Links: USA, SF, Food, Liquor
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1855 |
London’s Smithfield livestock market closed and moved to Islington. Links: Britain, Food
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1859 |
Maize replaced the native crops in Malawi soon after the arrival of David Livingstone. It had been introduced in Africa in the 16th century by Portuguese colonizers as a reliable staple for slaving outposts. Links: Portugal, Malawi, Africa, Food, Slavery
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1861 May 21 |
Elena Molokhovets (1831-1918), Russian writer, published “A Gift to Young Housewives,” which remained popular in Russia for half a century. Links: Russia, Food, Books
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1861 |
Sam Beeton and his wife Isabella Mayson (1840-1868) published “Beeton’s Book of Household Management.” Mayson was a columnist for the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.” Beeton had made his fortune publishing the British edition of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” In 2005 Kathryn Hughes authored “The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton.” Links: Britain, Food, Books
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1862 |
In Austria Julius Meinl founded a coffee and food store in Vienna. After 20 years his roasting factory served all of Austria-Hungary. The company developed into a chain and later into the Meinl Bank. Links: Austria, Food, Coffee, Retail, Banking
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1866 1868 |
About this time Edmund McIlhenny (1815-1890), banker, traveled to New Orleans and acquired some pepper seeds from a man on the street, which he grew and used to develop a hot sauce that he called Tabasco, after peppers from Mexico’s state of Tabasco. In 2007 Jeffrey Rothfeder authored McIlhenny’s Gold: How a Louisiana Family Built the Tabasco Empire.” Links: USA, Louisiana, Food
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1868 |
A new meat market opened in London at the site of the old Smithfield livestock market. The original Metropolitan Railway passed underneath allowing the market to receive much of its meat by hydraulic lifts. The railways stopped carrying meat after 1950. Links: Britain, Food
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1869 |
Henry John Heinz partnered with L. Clarence Noble to form Heinz & Noble in Sharpsburg, Pa. Their first product was grated horseradish. Their first ketchup was introduced in 1876. They produced tomato and walnut ketchup for 24 cents per gallon and sold them from whiskey barrels. In 2013 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital acquired Heinz in a $23.3 billion deal. Links: USA, Food
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We offer additional services to help you as well including
tax attorney help with tax relief issues,
auto accident attorney services, and
sustainable development information to research going green!
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1871 Jan 3 |
Henry W. Bradley patented oleomargarine in Binghamton, NY. Links: USA, New York, Food
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1872 |
The Butter and Cheese Exchange opened in NYC. It later became known as the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). Links: NYC, Food
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1875 |
In NYC the Butter and Cheese Exchange, later known as the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), was renamed to the American Exchange of New York. Links: NYC, Food
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1876 |
In Dayton, Ohio, the Royal Remedy and Extract Co. was founded by Irvin Souders. The company was incorporated in 1888 and introduced Sweet Wheat chewing gum in 1889. Links: USA, Ohio, Food
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1876 |
Carl von Linde (1842-1934), German engineer, invented refrigeration. Links: Germany, Technology, Food, Inventor
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1877 |
Pietro Barilla opened a shop in Parma, Italy, selling bread and pasta. The company left the bread business in 1952. By 2007 it was the world’s leading pasta maker. In 1999 the Parma pasta factory was closed and converted to the Academia Barilla, which also housed a library dedicated to gastronomy. Links: Italy, Food
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1879 |
Armour & Co., a Chicago meat processor founded in the 1860s, introduced canned meats. Canned condensed milk was introduced in 1912. The “Armour’s Star” trademark was first used in 1931. Links: USA, Chicago, Food
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1880 |
In NYC the American Exchange of New York, later known as the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), was renamed as the Butter, Cheese and Egg Exchange of New York. Links: NYC, Food
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1881 |
“What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Southern Cooking” by Abby Fisher was published by the San Francisco Women’s Co-operative Printing Office. Links: Black History, SF, Food
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1881 |
William H. Purvis introduced macadamia nuts to Hawaii. Links: USA, Food, Hawaii
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1885 |
Jules Harder, 1st chef of the SF Palace Hotel, authored “The Physiology of Taste: Harder’s Book of Practical American Cookery.” Links: USA, SF, Food, Books
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1886 |
In SF the Fior d’Italia restaurant began to serve clients for a nearby North Beach bordello. Tortellini was a nickel, risotto with clams a dime and veal scallopine and calf’s liver was 15 cents. It was originally located at 482 Broadway and later moved to 601 Union St. In February 2005 the restaurant was burned out of its Washington Square location. It re-opened in November on Mason Street at the former San Remo Hotel. Links: USA, SF, Food
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1889 |
Chris L. Rutt, a newspaperman in St. Joseph, Missouri, began working on creating a self-rising pancake mix. Within a year, he and two associates developed the first pancake mix ever made. While seeking a name and package design for the world's first self-rising pancake mix, Rutt saw a vaudeville team known as Baker and Farrell whose act included Baker singing the catchy song "Aunt Jemima" dressed as a Southern mammy. Inspired by the wholesome name and image, Rutt appropriated them both to market his new pancake mix. Links: USA, Food, Missouri
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1890 |
Unable to raise the money to promote Aunt Jemima pancake mix, Chris L. Rutt and his associates sold their company to R.T. Davis Mill and Manufacturing Company, which promoted the new product at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The company hired Nancy Green (d.1923), a famous African-American cook born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, to play the part of Aunt Jemima and demonstrate the pancake mix. In 1917, Aunt Jemima was redrawn as a smiling, heavy-set black housekeeper with a bandanna wrapped around her head. Links: USA, Chicago, Food, Missouri
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1894 |
Milton Hershey (1857-1945) founded Hershey Foods in Pennsylvania. He built an industrial town near where he was born and named it after himself. Links: USA, Pennsylvania, Food
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