FOOD HISTORY TIMELINE
2006 to 2012 - Next
2006 While a Poultry and Food Science professor at Cornell University from 1949-1989 he developed chicken nuggets (keeping the breading on was the key), turkey ham, poultry hot dogs and many other products. He founded Cornell's Institute of Food Science and Marketing in 1970, and in 2004 was inducted into the American Poultry Hall of Fame.
2006 Chicago banned the sale of foie gras.
2006 The last Western Union Telegrams are sent. Western Union ended its Telegram service on January 27.
2006 Nicole Belinda Franzen Reese was chosen as the 59th 'Alice in Dairyland' by the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. She will be the spokesperson for the states agriculture industry.
2006 Krispy Kreme donuts opened its first Asian outlet in Hong Kong.
2006 Sometime during October 2006 the population of the U.S. will reach 300 million.
2006 Six Flags theme park in Gurnee, Illinois held a live cockroach eating contest.
2006 New York became the first U.S. city to ban artificial trans fats in restaurant food when the Board of Health voted to ban them today. NYC restaurants will have until July to stop using frying oils with artery clogging trans fats, and will have to eliminate trans fats from all foods by July 2008.
2006 The Hard Rock Cafes and Casinos were purchased by Florida's Seminole American Indian Tribe.
2006 The Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar.
2006 International Year of Deserts & Desertification
2006 Deep Fried Coca-Cola is offered at the State Fair of Texas.
2006 An outbreak of illness from the dangerous E.Coli 0157:H7 was reported in December, with green onions as the suspected cause. Cases were reported in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina, and Utah.
2006 The Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act was approved by state voters. It bans smoking in all bars & restaurants & is effective on Dec 8.
2006 Chicago's oldest restaurant, the 107 year old Berghoff Restaurant closed today.
2006 Restaurateur Claude Terrail, owner of La Tour d'Argent in Paris, died at age 88.
2006 The U.S. FDA reported an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7. Fresh spinach is the suspected cause of the outbreak and consumers nationwide were advised not to eat bagged spinach. Eventually more than 200 people were sickened in 22 states and several deaths were reported.
2006 The New Orleans landmark restaurant, Commander's Palace, reopened. It had been closed since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August, 2005.
2006 New York Times journalist and food writer R.W. Apple died at the age of 71.
2006 A Hong Kong real estate tycoon and his wife paid $160,000 for a 3.3 pound Italian Alba white truffle.
2006 "Fill it up with Cabernet Sauvignon." Due to overproduction and lowering demand for some French wines (especially in Bordeaux), many wine producers had to resort to converting their wines into ethanol fuel for automobiles.
2006 The Four Seasons restaurant in New York raised the price of its Baked Potato with White Truffles to $200, up from last years price of $150.
2006 The Laundry restaurant in East Hampton, New York added a $25 hot dog to its menu. It is made from Wagyu beef.
2006 Wal-Mart is the largest seller of organic milk in the U.S.
2006 A Hong Kong real estate tycoon and his wife paid $160,000 for a 3.3 pound Italian Alba white truffle.
2006 A bar owner in Bethalto, Illinois was charged with violating the liquor code and obscenity laws. The bar filled a children's inflatable pool with mashed potatoes and staged wrestling matches. The violations came about when several of the female 'wrestlers' were rumored to have lost some of their garments to the surrounding carbohydrates.
2006 In the Chicago suburb of Villa Park, thieves stole a semi tractor trailer filled with broccoli. It was valued at $50,000.
2006 Texas Republican state Rep. Betty Brown filed a bill (HCR 15) in the Texas legislature which would declare Athens, Texas as the "original home of the hamburger. Residents of New Haven, Connecticut strongly objected. (See Louis Lunch)
2006 Comedian Neil Hamburger, performing to hostile crowds on Tenacious D's world tour, would not leave the stage of large venues such as Madison Square Garden until he had gotten the entire audience to chant the phrase “cranberry sauce” several times.
2007 Momofuku Ando died in Osaka, Japan on January 5. Mr. Ando was the founder of Nissin Food Products, and invented 'Instant Ramen' noodles.
2007 Food writer Sharon Tyler Herbst died on January 26. Author of ' The Food Lover's Companion,' 'The Joy of Cookies,' and more than a dozen other books.
2007 Karen Hess, culinary historian, died. Some of her books were 'The Taste of America' (1977) and 'Carolina Rice Kitchen: The African Connection' (1992). She also annotated Mary Randolph's 'Virginia Housewife' (1983).
2007 On May 3, Jamison Stone, 11 years old, bagged a 'wild hog' that weighed in at over 1050 pounds. He was hunting on a commercial hunting preserve with his father and several guides in eastern Alabama. The animal measured 9 feet 4 inches long, nose to tail.
2007 On May 25 Coca Cola created a 3,000 gallon, 15 foot high ice cream float with Vanilla Coke and ice cream, and set a new world record for the largest ice cream float. The float was certified as drinkable by health inspectors, but it was disposed of by a garbage company. Coke also held the previous record from 1998 with a 2,085 gallon float.
2007 Edna Lewis died, southern chef and author of 'The Taste of Southern Cooking' (1976).
2007 On August 22 a 12 year-old boy in Manchester, England was charged with assault for throwing a cocktail sausage at a 74 year-old man.
2007 A bull escaped at the Minnesota State Fair on August 31. The bull rammed into a fire hydrant across from the all-you-can-drink Milk booth, and fell dead next to the hydrant.
2007 On October 5, one week after recalling almost 22 million pounds of ground beef products, Topps Meat Company announced it was going out of business. Topps had to recall the meat after samples tested positive for E. coli bacteria, and at least 30 people had become ill since July. Topps was one of the country's largest manufacturers of frozen hamburgers.
2007 'Chef Tell' (Friedman Paul Erhardt) died of heart failure on October 26. A European trained chef, he was one of the earliest celebrity TV chefs. He made appearances on Saturday Night Live, numerous talk shows, the PBS show 'In the Kitchen With Chef Tell' and was the inspiration for the Muppet's 'Swedish Chef.' He was also a restaurant owner, cookbook author and culinary educator.
2007 Vincent Sardi Jr. died. He operated the famous Broadway restaurant, 'Sardi's' for 50 years. He retired in 1997.
2007 Kelly Jo Dowd died. She was one of the original 'Hooters' Girls' at the first Hooters' restaurant which opened in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida.
2007 There were 1,449 total breweries in the U.S. in 2007, 1,406 of them small, independent and traditional craft brewers.
2007 Alfred Peet died. He was the founder of Peet's Coffee & Tea in Berkeley, California in 1966. The founders of Starbucks were fans, and openly acknowledge his influence.
2007 The average farm in the U.S. is 441 acres. In 1900 the average size was 147 acres.
2007 Michael Jackson, a leading beer critic, died at age 65.He was the author of 'The World Guide to Beer' (1977), and wrote for articles for various newspapers and food magazines, etc.
2007 David Tallichet, founder of Specialty Restaurants Corp, died. A former WW II pilot, most of the restaurants have aviation themes, or are located on prime waterfront or hilltop properties. (I was Executive Chef at one of his restaurants, 'Britanny Hill' in Denver, Colorado in the 1980s - Chef James)
2007 About 1/3 of all honeybee colonies in the U.S. perished during 2007 due to several deadly viruses (collectively called Colony Collapse Disorder). Little is understood about this problem.
2007 Food scientist Edwin Traisman died on June 5 at age 91. He helped develop Cheez Whiz for Kraft and later helped develop methods to standardize the French fries served at McDonald's restaurants. He also worked on research into the risks of various strains of E. coli bacteria.
2008 The UN designated 2008 as the International Year of the Potato. (Potatoes are the world's 4th largest food crop.)
2008 Thailand: Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was forced out of office because he was appearing on the TV cooking show 'Tasting, Ranting.' It was illegal for a government minister to hold another job.
2008 The USDA announced the largest beef recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse.
2008 The National Meats Institute in Uruguay organized a record Largest BBQ, grilling about over 26,000 pounds of beef on a mile long bbq grill using 6 tonnes of charcoal.
2008 It takes about 2 hours labor to produce 100 bushels of wheat.
2008 On May 14, The Chicago City Council repealed its ban on the sale of Foie Gras.
2008 Al Copeland, the founder of Popeye's restaurant chain, died on March 23.
2008 Herb Peterson, creator of McDonald's Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich, died on March 25
2008 Robert Mondavi died at age 94 on May 13. A leading Napa Valley vintner who helped establish California wines among the best in the world.
2008 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that will ban trans fats in restaurants and retail food establishments. The ban goes into effect on January 1, 2010. California is the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants. There are several cities that have banned them, and California and Oregon have previously banned trans fats in school meals.
2008 IBM is granted a patent for storing a customers preference for 'paper or plastic bags' on the stores customer loyalty card. Does this really deserve a patent?! Our patent system is definitely out of control.
2008 Flatulent Assault or Battery by Fart: A man in West Virginia was charged with battery on a police officer when he passed gas and allegedly 'fanned' it toward the police officer. He had been taken to the police station for a Breathalyzer test when the alleged 'fart and fan' caper occurred. The prosecutor's office later requested that the criminal complaint be dropped.
2009 On August 15 in Detroit, Michigan, GourmetGiftBaskets.com set a new record for the world's largest cupcake at 1,224 pounds.
2009 McDonald's closed its 3 locations in Iceland in October due to the 'complex operational environment.'
2009 In November, Nestle, one of the largest producers of canned pumpkin products, reports there may be a shortage of its products because heavy rains interrupted the pumpkin harvest.
2009 Kellogg's reports on November 20 that there will be a nationwide shortage of Eggo Frozen Waffles until the summer of 2010. Production has been interrupted at 2 of Eggo's four production plants due to repairs.
2009 The last issue of Gourmet magazine was published in November. (The first issue was published in 1941).
2009 For the first time since 1945 when record-keeping began, world electricity use will show a year to year decline. Estimated decline 2009 vs 2008: more than 3%.
2009 Probably influenced by the economic crisis, cattle thefts in Texas have increased about 300% since 2007.
2009 The Food Network reaches 98 million homes.
2009 There are an estimated 950 million people in the world suffering from hunger, and 40,000 hunger-related deaths every day.
2009 A deadly virus ravages cacao trees in West Africa. Hundreds of millions of trees are destroyed to halt its spread.
2009 In the U.S. French Fries are the most common 'vegetable' children eat.
2009 Connecticut has 149 dairies. In 1940 there were 6,200 dairies in the state.
2009 About 37% of plastic soda bottles and 28% of plastic milk & water containers are recycled in the U.S. each year.
2009 A bluefin tuna weighing 282 1/2 pounds sold for $104,700 ($371 lb) at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market auction.
2009 A pro-vegetarian Super Bowl ad from animal rights group Peta was too raunchy for NBC. They turned down the ad featuring several nearly naked models becoming very intimate with a pumpkin, broccoli, asparagus, and eggplant, with the flashing message "Studies show vegetarians have better sex."
2009 Restaurateur Milton Parker died at the age of 90. Owner of the famous Carnegie Deli in New York from 1976 until his retirement in 2002.
2009 A soft drink called 'Gau Jal' made from cow urine and flavored with herbs is being developed in India. After testing it should be ready for sale within a few months.
2009 A truck hit the center median, and dumped thousands of pounds of burgers onto Interstate 15 near Salt Lake City. A few hours later on Interstate 84, also in Utah, a truck carrying 40,000 pounds of Fat Tire Beer hit the center median and spilled its load on the highway. Neither driver was injured.
2009 Hershey's, the largest U.S. candy maker, closed its candy factory in Reading, Pennsylvania today. The factory produced among other, the Zagnut, York Peppermint Pattie, and 5th Avenue candy bars. Production was moved to their new factory in Monterey, Mexico.
2009 Reduced demand for butter & cheese and falling milk prices are forcing dairy farmers in the U.S. to sell hundreds of thousands of dairy cows to be slaughtered for meat. Estimates are that more than 15% of the 9.3 million dairy cows may be sold for meat.
2009 Hot Dog Wars: Sara Lee (Ball Park Franks) sued Kraft Foods (Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks) over claims that Oscar Mayer franks are better than Ball Park Franks.
2009 After months of numerous mechanical failures, a new recycling system was activated on the international space station. The new system recycles astronauts urine and sweat into drinking water.
2009 Five students were arrested and taken away in handcuffs after a yogurt and taco salad food fight at a Portage, Wisconsin high school.
2009 Estimates are that about 1 billion frogs are killed for food each year. The world market for frog legs is threatening many species with extinction.
2010 The population of the U.S. is now 308,745,538.
2010 Jimmy Dean died at age 81. A country music singer he also founded Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in 1969, well known for its Jimmy Dean Sausage brand.
2010 In August, approximately 23% of U.S. railway cars were in storage.
2010 April 3: Students at a Utah high school created a replica of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' using 2 tons of Malt-O-Meal cereal.
2010 In May, a 10 year-old 3rd grade student in Texas was given 1 week's detention for being in possession of a candy bar at lunch time. The candy bar was also confiscated.
2010 Average bottled water consumption in the U.S. is 30 gallons per person each year.
2010 There are over 34,000 Subway sandwich shops in 96 countries.
2011 World population is expected to hit 7 billion in October.
2012 Pizza Hut Canada produced 110 bottles of 'Eau de Pizza Hut' perfume to commemorate reaching 100,000 Facebook fans.
2012 For 2 days 900 mile wide Hurricane Superstorm 'Sandy' with 90 mph winds hits the East Coast of the U.S. Sandy drops up to 12 inches of rain; record 32.5 foot wave in NY harbor; 14 foot storm surge floods New York subways; shuts down Wall Street for several days; causes blizzards in West Virginia and Maryland; floods communities in 23 states; cuts power to more than 8 million residents; destroys beaches up and down the Eastern U.S. The worst storm in U.S. history.
2012 December 12: "Y12" - The end of the Long Count Maya Calendar Cycle (5,125.37 years). The End of the World; the beginning of a new enlightened age; or just another Wednesday afternoon? Take your pick.
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