Food & brand history timeline
When our favourite foods, drinks and household brands first appeared.
204 events, oldest first.
Timeline of Food & brand history
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c. 14,400 years ago
The oldest known bread is baked
Charred crumbs found in Jordan show bread came thousands of years before farming.
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c. 6000 BC
Wine is first made in Georgia
Residue in 8,000-year-old clay jars shows people in Georgia made wine in the Stone Age.
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c. 2000 BC
Millet noodles are made in China
A 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles was found preserved at Lajia in China.
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578
Kongō Gumi, the world's oldest company, is founded
The Japanese temple builder operated independently for more than 1,400 years before being absorbed in 2006.
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705
The oldest hotel still running opens in Japan
Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan has been run by the same family for over 50 generations.
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1040
Weihenstephan brewery begins brewing
The Bavarian brewery claims to be the oldest still operating in the world.
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c. 1390
The Forme of Cury cookbook is written
It was compiled by the master cooks of King Richard II.
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1472
Monte dei Paschi, the oldest bank, is founded
The Siena bank has operated continuously for more than 550 years.
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c. 1570
Potatoes arrive in Europe
Many Europeans were at first suspicious that potatoes were poisonous.
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1608
Bushmills receives its licence to distil
Its licence makes it one of the oldest licensed whiskey distilleries in the world.
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1652
London's first coffee house opens
Within decades London had hundreds of coffee houses, nicknamed 'penny universities'.
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1662
Catherine of Braganza makes tea fashionable in England
The Portuguese princess brought her tea-drinking habit when she married Charles II.
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1670
The Hudson's Bay Company is founded
It once controlled a territory covering about 15% of North America.
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1706
Twinings opens its London tea shop
It still trades from the same address on the Strand, more than 300 years later.
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1725
Botín, the world's oldest restaurant, opens
Guinness World Records recognises Madrid's Sobrino de Botín as the oldest restaurant.
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1729
Ruinart, the oldest champagne house, is founded
Nicolas Ruinart's uncle was a Benedictine monk who knew the wine trade.
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1759
Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease
He agreed to pay £45 a year for the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin.
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1783
Schweppes is founded in Geneva
Jacob Schweppe was a watchmaker who perfected a way to make fizzy water.
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1795
The first corkscrew is patented
The Reverend Samuel Henshall's patent was the first for a corkscrew.
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1806
Colgate is founded
William Colgate started out selling soap and candles in New York.
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1810
Tin cans are patented
Early tins were so thick that soldiers opened them with bayonets, knives or even rocks.
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1824
John Cadbury opens his first shop
His Birmingham shop sold tea and coffee as well as drinking chocolate.
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1837
Tiffany & Co. opens in New York
It began as a 'stationery and fancy goods' shop.
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1837
Worcestershire sauce goes on sale
Legend says the first batch was judged inedible and left in a cellar, where it matured.
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1847
Carlsberg is founded
It was named after the founder's five-year-old son, Carl.
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1847
Fry's makes the first solid chocolate bar
Before then, chocolate was almost always drunk rather than eaten.
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1849
Harrods opens as a small grocer's shop
Charles Henry Harrod started out selling tea and groceries.
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1854
Louis Vuitton founds his luggage company
He made his name with flat-topped trunks that could be stacked, unlike rounded ones.
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1855
Bordeaux wines are officially ranked
The ranking was made for Napoleon III's Paris Exposition and has changed only once since.
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1857
Commercial toilet paper goes on sale
Joseph Gayetty's "medicated paper" was the first commercially packaged toilet paper in the US.
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1858
The can opener is patented
Ezra Warner's patent came nearly half a century after the tin can itself.
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1861
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management
Isabella Beeton was only 25 when it was published.
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1862
Bacardi is founded in Cuba
Its bat logo came from fruit bats living in the rafters of the first distillery.
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1864
Heineken is founded
Gerard Heineken bought a brewery called De Hooiberg, 'The Haystack'.
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1865
Nokia is founded as a paper mill
Before mobile phones, Nokia made paper, rubber boots and cables.
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1866
Nestlé is founded
Henri Nestlé's first big success was a baby food made from milk and cereal.
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1868
Tabasco sauce is created
Edmund McIlhenny first bottled it in used cologne bottles.
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1869
Sainsbury's opens its first shop
It began as a dairy shop on Drury Lane in London.
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1873
Levi Strauss patents riveted work jeans
Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis used copper rivets to stop miners' trouser pockets from tearing.
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1876
Budweiser is launched
It was named after the Czech town of Budweis.
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1876
Heinz launches its tomato ketchup
Heinz's first product was horseradish sauce, sold in clear glass to show off its purity.
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1879
Rodolphe Lindt invents conching
He reputedly left his machine running over a weekend, creating smooth melting chocolate.
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1879
Thomas Burberry invents gabardine
Roald Amundsen wore Burberry gabardine on his trek to the South Pole.
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1879
Woolworth's first 'five-cent store' opens
Frank Woolworth's idea was to sell everything at a fixed low price.
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1883
The first Yellow Pages directory is printed
It was printed on yellow paper because the printer ran out of white.
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1884
Marks & Spencer begins as a market stall
Michael Marks's Leeds stall had a sign: 'Don't ask the price, it's a penny'.
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1885
Dr Pepper is first served
It was first served in Waco, Texas - a year before Coca-Cola appeared.
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1886
Coca-Cola is invented
Pharmacist John Pemberton first sold it in Atlanta as a medicinal tonic.
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1889
Nintendo is founded
It started out making hanafuda, handmade Japanese playing cards, in Kyoto.
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1890
Lipton tea goes on sale
Thomas Lipton bought his own tea plantations in Ceylon.
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1893
Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum is launched
William Wrigley started out giving gum away free with baking powder.
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1897
A dentist co-invents the cotton candy machine
Dentist William Morrison and confectioner John Wharton sold it as 'Fairy Floss'.
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1897
Campbell's condensed soup goes on sale
Removing most of the water made the cans smaller, lighter and cheaper to ship.
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1897
Jell-O is launched
Its inventor sold the rights for $450.
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1898
Pepsi-Cola gets its name
Pharmacist Caleb Bradham first sold it as 'Brad's Drink'.
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1900
The first Michelin Guide is published
Michelin, a tyre company, published it to encourage people to drive more.
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1900
The Hershey's milk chocolate bar goes on sale
Milton Hershey had already made a fortune from caramels before switching to chocolate.
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1901
Irn-Bru is launched in Scotland
In Scotland it has long rivalled Coca-Cola in sales.
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1901
The Mercedes car name is first used
It was named after Mercedes Jellinek, the young daughter of a car dealer.
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1902
Barnum's Animals crackers come in a circus-wagon box
The little box had a string on top so families could hang it on the Christmas tree once the crackers were eaten.
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1902
Marmite is first made
It is made from leftover yeast from beer brewing.
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1903
Harley-Davidson builds its first motorcycle
The first one was built in a small wooden shed in Milwaukee.
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1904
Charles Rolls meets Henry Royce
They met at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.
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1904
Ovomaltine malted drink is launched in Switzerland
It is called Ovaltine in English-speaking countries because the name was misspelt on the British trademark registration.
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1905
Cadbury Dairy Milk is launched
Its name refers to the high proportion of milk in the recipe.
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1905
Rolex is founded
It was founded in London, not Switzerland.
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1906
Kellogg's Corn Flakes go on sale
W. K. Kellogg added sugar to the recipe, angering his health-food brother.
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1907
Hershey's Kisses are introduced
No one is quite sure where the name came from - possibly the sound of the machine.
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1908
Bisto gravy is launched
The name is said to come from 'Browns, Seasons, Thickens In One'.
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1908
Toblerone is created
Its name combines Tobler with torrone, Italian for nougat.
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1908
Vimto is invented
It was first sold as a health tonic in Manchester.
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1909
Selfridges department store opens in London
Months after opening, it displayed Blériot's Channel-crossing plane, and around 150,000 people came to see it in four days.
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1910
Oxo cubes are launched
Oxo was an official sponsor of the 1908 London Olympics, before the cubes existed.
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1911
Crisco shortening goes on sale
Its name comes from 'crystallized cottonseed oil', and early marketing included free cookbooks full of recipes using it.
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1912
Oreo cookies are first sold
The Oreo actually began as a copycat of Hydrox, a similar sandwich cookie launched four years earlier.
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1915
Pyrex glass bakeware goes on sale
The idea came when a scientist's wife baked a sponge cake in the sawn-off bottom of a glass battery jar.
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1916
Nathan's opens its Coney Island hot dog stand
Its hot dog eating contest is held every 4 July.
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1919
Tesco is founded as a market stall
The name combines the initials of a tea supplier, T. E. Stockwell, with Cohen.
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1920
Haribo is founded
The name comes from its founder: HAns RIegel, BOnn.
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1921
Chanel No. 5 is launched
Coco Chanel picked the fifth sample she was shown.
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1921
White Castle, the first burger chain, opens
It sold its small square burgers for 5 cents each.
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1922
Haribo invents the gummy bear
Hans Riegel's 'dancing bears' were inspired by trained bears at street fairs.
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1923
The Milky Way bar is launched
It was named after a malted milk drink, not the galaxy.
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1924
IBM gets its name
Before that it was the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.
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1927
Jaffa Cakes are launched
A UK court ruled they are cakes, not biscuits, for tax purposes.
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1927
Lucozade is created
It was first sold in pharmacies as a drink to help sick people recover.
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1927
PEZ is invented in Austria
It began as a peppermint for adults trying to quit smoking; the name comes from Pfefferminz.
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1928
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are created
H. B. Reese had been a dairy farmer for Milton Hershey.
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1928
Sliced bread is first sold
The first commercially sliced loaves were sold in Chillicothe, Missouri.
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1929
7 Up is launched
It originally contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilising drug.
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1930
Clear Scotch cellophane tape goes on sale
The 'Scotch' name came from a painter who grumbled that 3M's bosses were stingy with glue.
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1930
Snickers is launched
It was named after the Mars family's favourite horse.
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1932
The first Mars bar is made, in Slough
Forrest Mars made it in a small rented factory in Slough, England.
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1933
The first Zippo lighter is made
George Blaisdell based its windproof design on an Austrian lighter he saw at a country club.
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1934
Ritz crackers are launched
They were marketed as an affordable luxury during the Great Depression.
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1935
Kit Kat is launched
It was first sold as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp.
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1936
Maltesers are launched
They were first marketed as 'energy balls' for slimmers.
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1936
Toyota builds its first car
The Toyoda family business started out making automatic looms.
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1937
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is launched
A box could feed a family of four for 19 cents.
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1937
Smarties are launched
They were originally called Chocolate Beans.
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1937
Spam is introduced
Hormel's canned meat fed so many Allied troops that it became a wartime staple worldwide.
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1938
Nescafé instant coffee is launched
Nestlé developed it to help use up Brazil's coffee surplus.
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1938
Ribena is launched
Its vitamin C made it a wartime staple for British children.
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1938
Samsung is founded as a grocery trader
It started out selling dried fish, vegetables and noodles.
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1939
Hewlett-Packard is founded in a garage
The Palo Alto garage is now known as the birthplace of Silicon Valley.
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1940
Fanta is created in wartime Germany
It was made from leftovers like whey and apple pulp when Coca-Cola syrup couldn't be imported.
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1940
Nylon stockings go on sale across America
About four million pairs sold within days, and some shoppers queued for hours to buy them.
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1940
The McDonald brothers open their first restaurant
Their first restaurant in San Bernardino was a barbecue drive-in.
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1941
M&M's chocolate candies go on sale
Forrest Mars got the idea after seeing soldiers in Spain eat chocolate in a hard sugar shell that would not melt.
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1943
IKEA is founded
Founder Ingvar Kamprad was just 17 years old.
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1945
The microwave oven is invented
Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar melting in his pocket next to a radar magnetron.
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1946
Sony is founded
Its first attempt at a product was an electric rice cooker that often burned the rice.
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1947
Kitty Litter is invented
Ed Lowe suggested a neighbour try absorbent clay instead of sand for her cat.
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1948
Cheetos are invented
Their creator, Charles Elmer Doolin, also founded Fritos.
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1948
In-N-Out Burger opens
It was California's first drive-through hamburger stand.
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1948
Lamborghini starts building tractors
Ferruccio Lamborghini moved into sports cars after a row with Enzo Ferrari.
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1948
Walkers crisps are founded
Walkers was originally a butcher's shop in Leicester.
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1949
Adidas is founded
Adi Dassler fell out with his brother Rudolf, who founded Puma.
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1950
Diners Club launches the first multipurpose charge card
Its first cards were made of cardboard, and the first meal paid with one was dubbed the 'First Supper'.
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1950
Dunkin' Donuts opens
Its first shop opened in Quincy, Massachusetts.
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1952
Frosted Flakes and Tony the Tiger hit the shelves
Tony first shared the box with Katy the Kangaroo, but he proved so popular that she was dropped within a year.
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1952
KFC's first franchise opens
Colonel Sanders was in his sixties, and the first franchise was in Salt Lake City.
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1953
The first TV dinner goes on sale
Swanson created it to use up hundreds of tonnes of leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
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1954
Burger King opens
The Whopper was added to the menu three years later.
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1955
Fish fingers go on sale in Britain
They were nearly called 'cod pieces'.
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1955
Ray Kroc opens his first McDonald's
He was a milkshake-machine salesman intrigued by the McDonald brothers' huge orders.
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1958
Chupa Chups lollipops are launched
Salvador Dalí designed its daisy logo.
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1958
Instant noodles are invented
Momofuku Ando perfected his flash-fried noodles in a shed behind his house.
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1958
Pizza Hut opens its first restaurant
Brothers Dan and Frank Carney borrowed $600 from their mother to open it in Wichita, Kansas.
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1958
The first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant opens
Yoshiaki Shiraishi was inspired by beer bottles moving along a brewery conveyor.
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1959
The Mini is launched
Its tiny 10-inch wheels helped free up space for four passengers.
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1960
Dr. Martens boots go on sale in Britain
The air-cushioned sole was designed by a German army doctor after a skiing injury.
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1960
Häagen-Dazs is founded in New York
The Danish-sounding name was made up - it doesn't mean anything.
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1960
The first Domino's opens
It was first called DomiNick's.
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1961
Sprite is launched
It was Coca-Cola's answer to 7 Up.
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1961
The Jaguar E-Type is launched
Enzo Ferrari reportedly called it the most beautiful car ever made.
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1962
Taco Bell opens
Founder Glen Bell had previously run hot dog stands.
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1962
Walmart opens its first store
Sam Walton opened it in Rogers, Arkansas.
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1963
The pull-tab drinks can goes on sale
Ermal Fraze invented it after a picnic where nobody had brought a can opener.
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1964
Lucky Charms cereal goes on sale
Its inventor got the idea by mixing Cheerios with chopped-up Circus Peanuts candy.
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1964
Nutella goes on sale
Its ancestor was a hazelnut paste invented to stretch scarce cocoa after the Second World War.
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1964
Pop-Tarts go on sale
Kellogg's rushed them out after rival Post announced its own toaster pastry.
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1964
The Ford Mustang is launched
It sold more than 400,000 in its first year.
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1965
Gatorade is invented
It was created for the University of Florida's football team, the Gators.
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1965
The first Subway opens
It began as 'Pete's Super Submarines' in Connecticut.
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1966
Doritos go on sale nationwide
They were first made at a restaurant inside Disneyland.
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1967
The Big Mac is introduced
It was invented by a McDonald's franchisee near Pittsburgh.
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1968
Intel is founded
Its name is short for 'integrated electronics'.
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1968
Pringles are launched
The man who designed the Pringles can had some of his ashes buried in one.
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1969
Wendy's opens
Dave Thomas named it after his daughter.
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1971
Cup Noodles go on sale
The foam cup served as packaging, cooking pot and bowl.
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1971
Nike gets its name
The swoosh logo was designed by a student who was paid $35.
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1971
Starbucks opens its first store
It sold coffee beans and equipment, not cups of coffee.
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1972
Atari is founded
A young Steve Jobs worked there before founding Apple.
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1974
Kinder Surprise eggs go on sale
They are banned in the US because the toy is sealed inside the food.
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1976
Anita Roddick opens the first Body Shop
She painted it dark green because it was the only colour that would hide the damp patches on the walls.
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1976
Apple Computer is founded
Co-founder Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake after 12 days for $800.
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1976
The 'Judgement of Paris' wine tasting
Californian wines beat top French ones in a blind tasting by French judges.
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1978
Ben & Jerry's opens its first shop
It opened in a converted petrol station in Burlington, Vermont.
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1979
McDonald's launches the Happy Meal
A Guatemalan franchisee's children's menu, called 'Menú Ronald', is credited as one inspiration for it.
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1982
Adobe is founded
It was named after a creek that ran behind one founder's house.
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1982
Diet Coke is launched
It was the first new brand to use the Coca-Cola trademark.
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1982
Ferrero Rocher is launched
It is named after a rocky grotto at Lourdes.
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1983
Costco opens its first warehouse
Its famous hot dog and soda combo has cost $1.50 for decades.
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1983
Swatch launches its plastic watches
Built from just 51 parts instead of over 90, it helped rescue Switzerland's struggling watch industry.
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1985
Coca-Cola launches New Coke
After a public outcry, the original formula was back on shelves just 79 days later.
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1987
Red Bull is launched
It was based on a Thai energy drink called Krating Daeng.
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1990
The first McDonald's opens in Moscow
Tens of thousands of people queued on opening day.
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1992
The world's largest McDonald's opens in Beijing
The Wangfujing restaurant had around 700 seats and served about 40,000 people on its first day.
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1994
Amazon is founded
It started out selling only books, run from a garage near Seattle.
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1994
Pizza Hut takes orders online with PizzaNet
The trial service only worked in Santa Cruz, California, long before online food ordering was normal.
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1995
Starbucks launches the Frappuccino
The name blends frappé and cappuccino and came from a Boston coffee chain that Starbucks had bought.
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1996
Starbucks opens its first store outside North America
It opened in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, and Japan soon became one of its biggest markets.
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1997
McDonald's Happy Meals give away Teenie Beanie Babies
About 100 million Happy Meals sold in just ten days, and the promotion ran out weeks early.
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1997
Netflix is founded
It started out renting DVDs by post.
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1999
Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef first airs
The title referred to the stripped-back food, not the chef.
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2000
Heinz launches green ketchup
Blastin' Green was aimed at children and was followed by purple, pink, orange and blue versions.
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2001
Pizza Hut delivers a pizza to the Space Station
Pepperoni went mouldy in tests, so cosmonaut Yuri Usachov got salami; the stunt cost about $1 million.
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2002
Vanilla Coke is launched
Soda-fountain customers had been adding vanilla syrup to their Coca-Cola for decades before it was bottled.
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2003
Starbucks introduces the Pumpkin Spice Latte
The original recipe contained no actual pumpkin; real pumpkin was added more than a decade later.
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2004
Super Size Me is released
Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald's for a month and put on about 11 kg.
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2005
Jamie's School Dinners airs on British TV
The series made Turkey Twizzlers infamous and pushed the government to pledge £280 million for school meals.
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2006
Disney buys Pixar
The deal made Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney.
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2006
Google buys YouTube
Google paid $1.65 billion in stock for a site that was less than two years old.
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2007
Netflix starts streaming films online
It launched with about 1,000 titles to watch, against 70,000 DVDs available by post.
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2008
Airbnb is founded
Its broke founders kept going by selling novelty cereal boxes called Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's.
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2009
Kickstarter launches
The Pebble Time smartwatch later raised over $20 million on it, a record at the time.
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2010
Kraft takes over Cadbury
The American takeover ended 186 years of British independence for the chocolate maker.
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2012
Facebook buys Instagram
Facebook paid $1 billion for an app run by just 13 employees.
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2013
The Cronut debuts in New York
Queues formed before dawn for Dominique Ansel's croissant-doughnut, and Time named it a top invention.
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2013
The first lab-grown burger is tasted
The patty cost about £215,000 to make, funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
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2014
Facebook buys WhatsApp
The $19 billion deal bought a company with only about 55 employees.
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2014
Microsoft buys Minecraft
Microsoft paid $2.5 billion for Mojang, the small Swedish studio behind the game.
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2016
Samsung recalls the overheating Galaxy Note 7
US authorities banned the phone from all flights, even switched off in checked luggage.
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2017
Starbucks launches the Unicorn Frappuccino
The colour-changing drink turned from sweet to sour as you stirred, and sold for only about five days.
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2018
Apple becomes the first $1 trillion US company
PetroChina had briefly been valued at $1 trillion more than a decade earlier.
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2019
Beyond Meat's shares soar on their stock market debut
Its share price jumped 163% on day one, the best first-day rise for a major US listing since 2000.
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2019
Disney+ launches
It signed up 10 million subscribers on its first day.
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2020
Whipped dalgona coffee goes viral
The frothy drink needs only instant coffee, sugar and hot water, beaten hundreds of times.
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2021
Facebook renames its company Meta
The name nods to the 'metaverse', a word coined in Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash.
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2022
Elon Musk buys Twitter
He walked into Twitter's headquarters carrying a sink, captioned 'let that sink in'.
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2022
The New York Times buys Wordle
Creator Josh Wardle originally made the game for his partner, who loved word puzzles.
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2023
Twitter rebrands as X
The famous blue bird logo, nicknamed Larry after basketball star Larry Bird, was retired.
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2025
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches
It sold 3.5 million units in four days, the fastest-selling console launch ever.
Think you know your history?
Put 5, 7 or 10 events in chronological order in three tries. A new Chrono-Shift puzzle arrives every day.
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