FOOD HISTORY TIMELINE - 20072007 Vincent Sardi Jr. died (born July 23, 1915)). Owner, Sardi's Restaurant, New York, N.Y. 2007 A Big Mac in the US cost an average $3.41. 2007 The movie 'The Astronaut Farmer' opened in U.S. theatres. 2007 U.S. first class postage rates were raised to 41 cents and post cards to 26 cents. 2007 Colgate-Palmolive Co. warned that counterfeit toothpaste falsely packaged as "Colgate" has been found in four states, and may contain the poisonous chemical, Diethylene Glycol. The counterfeit toothpaste can be easily recognized because it is labeled as 'Manufactured in South Africa.' 2007 The American bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list. 2007 The animated movie 'Ratatouille' opened in U.S. theatres. The story is about a rat, who can also cook, who befriends a young kitchen worker at a famous restaurant. 2007 Buenos Aires experienced its first major snowfall since June 22, 1918. 2007 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 14,000 for first time in history, at 14,000.41. 2007 The temperature hit 105.4°F in the city of Tajimi, Japan, the hottest day on record in Japan. 2007 Leona Helmsley died (born July 4, 1920). American hotelier famous for her tyrannical behavior, and known as The Queen of Mean. 2007 The film 'I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With' opened in U.S. theatres. 2007 SABMiller and Molson Coors announced an agreement to combine their U.S. operations to create MillerCoors. U.S. antitrust regulators approved the joint venture on June 5, 2008, and MillerCoors began operation as a combined entity on July 1, 2008. 2007 The South is in the grip of an exceptional drought and Lake Lanier, a 38,000-acre north Georgia reservoir that supplies more than 3 million residents with water, has less than a 90 day supply of water. 2007 The animated 'Bee Movie' opened in U.S. theatres. The story of a bee who discovers that humans actually eat honey and decides to sue them. 2007 'Blood and Chocolate' opened in U.S. theaters. 2007 Alexander King died Feb 28 (born Jan 26, 1909). Scottish scientist. A pioneer in warning about the dangers to the environment from extensive industrial development. 2007 Ernest Gallo died. Co-founded E & J Gallo Winery with his brother Julio in 1933. It is the largest winery in the U.S. with about 25% of the U.S. wine market. 2007 Dick Wilson died. Actor who played the role of Mr Whipple in Charmin toilet paper TV commercials - "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." 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 Bob Evans died. Sausage maker and restaurateur, founder of Bob Evans Restaurants (Bob Evans Farms, Inc). 2007 A Big Mac in the US cost an average $3.41.
2007 The 7 billionth can of Spam was sold in 2007. 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. 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. 2007/2008 NY City restaurants have until July 1, 2007 to eliminate oils, margarines and shortening from recipes that contain more than a half-gram of trans fat per serving. By July 1, 2008, they will have to remove all menu items that exceed the new limit, including bread, cakes, chips and salad dressings. 2007 The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a certificate canceling all claims related to the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich patent. (see Dec 21, 1999) 2007 Harry G. Day died (born Oct 8, 1906). He helped develop the fluoride additive used in toothpaste to fight tooth decay. Proctor and Gamble funded his research at Indiana University. The FDA approved stannous fluoride in 1955 for use in toothpaste. In 1956 P&G introduced Crest toothpaste with this ingredient, which they called fluoristan. 2007 'Bee Movie' premiers in California. Animated comedy about a bee who sues the human race when he discovers humans actually eat honey.
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