FOOD HISTORY TIMELINE
2020 to 20252020 Residents in Castelvetro, Modena, Italy had a pleasant surprise when the region’s ‘Lambrusco Grasparossa’ wine flowed from their water taps. A “technical fault” at nearby Settecani winery caused wine to leak in to the water pipes, because it had a higher pressure than the water, causing it run through the system and into nearby homes. The local water board quickly fixed the problem, although some residents complained the problem was fixed too quickly. 2020 Verkhoyansk, Siberia reached 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Siberia and also the hottest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle, which begins at 66.5°N. 2020 Australia: A pair of Emus, Kevin and Carol, have been banned from the only pub in Yaraka, a small town in western Queensland. The animals were caught leaving droppings on the floor and snatching toast and French fries away from customers. Emus are a species of flightless birds and stand about 6 feet tall. 2020 The Supreme Court of Ireland officially ruled that, for tax law purposes, Subway Sandwich Bread is legally not bread due to its high sugar content. The product is, instead, a “confectionary or fancy baked good.” 2020 Borden Dairy Co., one of America’s oldest and largest dairy companies, filed for bankruptcy. 2020 Swarms of mosquitoes killed cows, deer, horses and other livestock in Louisiana after rain from Hurricane Laura led to an explosion of the mosquito population. 2020 The New York MTA board officially bans defecating on its subways, buses and transit facilities. 2020 Brazil: Due to Covid-19, event organizers announced that Rio de Janeiro's February 2021 Carnival celebrations have been cancelled, for the first time in more than a century. 2020 After 96 years on the corner of 45th and Madison Avenue, New York’s Roosevelt Hotel closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing drop in business. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, it has 18 stories, more than 1,000 rooms and 22,000 square feet of retail space. 2020 Post-cookout remnants of rhizomes that are at least 170,000 years old have been found in northeast South Africa, suggesting that humans may have been eating starchy carbs much earlier than previously believed. 2020 Chocolate Snow: The Swiss town of Olten, received a surprise dusting of cocoa after a ventilation system malfunctioned at a local chocolate factory. The minor defect, combined with strong winds Friday morning, caused the chocolate powder to spread around the immediate area of the factory. 2020 A brown bear apparently craving junk food crawled into a California Safeway grocery store and left with a bag of Tostitos chips in its mouth. 2020 'Sportsmans Double Diamond' a pedigree Texel ram lamb sold at auction in Scotland for the equivalent of about $490,000, becoming the world's most expensive sheep. 2020 Almost half of the continental U.S. is experiencing drought. The most severe in the U.S. since 2013. 2020 Coca-Cola announced that it is discontinuing its diet soda, TaB. Introduced in 1963, the saccharine-sweetened, zero-calorie TaB popularity declined after Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke in 1982. Retiring diet TaB frees the company concentrate on Diet Coke and Coke Zero brands. 2020 To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Iceland Foods Ltd., a British supermarket chain headquartered in Wales, sent a chicken nugget into space. In a gas-filled weather balloon, the nugget traveled through the Earth’s atmosphere to an altitude of 110,000 feet. 2020 For the first time in 159 years, Macy's department stores said Santa Claus would not be greeting kids at its stores this year due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. 2020 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania set a new record high temperature for the day, a sizzling 70 degrees. 2020 New York State's plastic bag ban took effect on March 1, 2020, and prohibits the distribution of plastic carryout bags by anyone who collects New York State sales tax. (The ban was put on hold and not enforced until Oct 19, 2020). 2020 The movie 'A Chef’s Voyage' premiered. Following Chef David Kinch journey from their 3 Michelin Star restauran in California on a collaboration with three legendary chefs at their iconic restaurants in Paris, Provence and Marseille. 2020 Pakistan struggles to contain the most devastating locust swarms in 25 years. Punjab province pays locals 20 rupees (12 cents) per kilogram to catch the locusts to be used as chicken feed. 2020 An Expensive Fart: A man in Vienna, Austria was fined 500 euros ($536) for standing on a park bench and loudly breaking wind during an encounter with police 2020 With hard freeze warnings in Florida, the National Weather Service warned "don't be surprised if you see Iguanas falling from trees tonight." (At temperatures below 45 degrees F. the go into a dormant state, and after 8 hours a significant number begin to die.) 2020 China announces a quarintine of Wuhan province due to the Coronavirus. 2020 A Washington state man who had visited Wuhan, China confirmed as U.S. 1st Coronavirus case. 2020 U.S. President Trump declares a national emergency to combat Coronavirus. 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the Coronavirus outbreak a Pandamic (widespread over several countries). 2020 Many Food Festivals, state fairs and celebrations have been cancelled or postponed due to Coronavirus concerns. 2020 Most New Year's Eve celebrations around the world have been cancelled or drastically scalled back due to the coronavirus pandemic. 2020 The United Kingdom (UK) officially leaves the European Union (EU) after 45 years. Details to be worked out by December 31, 2020. 2020 12 year old Ryder Day won the Fort Worth junior steer champion grand prize with a Hereford steer named Cupid Shuffle, at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The steer sold for a record $300,000. 2020 Ice fisherman Thomas Knight caught a 40 inch, 37.7 pound lake trout on Big Diamond Pond in West Stewartstown, New Hampshire. It is the largest lake trout on record in New England. 2020 Joseph Hardin Coulombe died (born 1930). Founder of the grocery store chain Trader Joe's in 1967. 2020 Oil prices have dropped almost 30% due to a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. 2020 Floyd Cardoz died (born Oct 2, 1960). World-renowned chef and TV star, Cardoz, married regional Indian cuisine with French and new American flavors, with several restaurants in his native Mumbai (Bombay) India and New York. He died from complications from COVID-19 (Coronavirus). 2020 Busch Beer offers a year of free beer to 250 couples whose weddings were postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak. 2020 Gerber, the iconic baby food brand, has chosen Magnolia Earl as its 2020 Gerber Baby, the first adopted baby chosen as the company's 'spokes-baby since the tradition bean in 1928.. 2020 To pass the time after being furloughed, Charlie Lello, a woman in Hertfordshire, England decided to try incubating 3 duck eggs purchased at a Waitrose supermarket. A month later they hatched 3 healthy ducklings. She named them Beep, Peep and Meep. 2020 Former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods was sentenced to a 40 month jail term and a $100,000 fine for his role in a canned tuna price fixing conspiracy involving Bumble Bee, StarKist and Chicken of the Sea brands. (see also Sept 11, 2019 and Aug 4, 2017). 2020 Quaker Oats is retiring the Aunt Jemima pancake brand and logo that have long been criticized as perpetuating racial stereotypes. 2020 After heavy criticism for promoting racial sterotypes, Mars Inc. 'Uncle Ben's' rice is getting a new name, 'Ben's Original' and the logo of an elderly African American man will be dropped from the packaging. For the same reasons, Conagra will review branding and packaging of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup. 2020 Land O'Lakes butter will remove the American Indian maiden its butter box, in use since 1928; the logo has long been criticized. 2020 Dryers Ice Cream will change name of 'Eskimo Pie,' due to its racially tinged name. 2020 Burbank, California tied its record high temperature of 114 degrees. 2020 A record setting heat wave in Southern California; Woodland Hills in L.A. County hit 121 degrees, Escondido 115 degrees. 2020 The California Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection reports that wildfires have burned almost 4 million acres so far this year (October) and killed 31 people. 2020 Canada: Officials of Jasper National Park in Alberta province have put up digital road signs “Do not let moose lick your car.” Moose need salt in their diet and have found the road salt that splashes on cars irresistible - a practice dangerous to cars, drivers and the moose. 2020 Coronavirus - December: Global cases total more than 67 million with over 1,540,000 deaths; U.S. cases total more than 15 million with more than 288,000 deaths. 2020 Waffle House and Oconee Brewing Co. of Georgia released Bacon & Kegs, a bacon infused red ale. 2020 Strong winds piled Tumbleweeds as high as 20-30 feet and blocked state road #240, 20 miles west of Richland, Washington. Crews from the Washington state Department of Transportation worked through the night to clear the roadway, which was closed for about 10 hours. 2020 Coronavirus: About 17% of America’s restaurants have permanently closed. 2021 A broad ban on single-use plastics, including containers, forks, straws and other items takes effect in Mexico City. 2021 Godiva Chocolates will close all of its 128 U.S. retail stores by the end of March, 2021 due to a declining number of in-person shoppers and a shift in consumer buying habits. 2021 The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old brewery in Abydos, Southern Egypt, it may be the oldest known brewery. They discovered the remains of eight massive vats used to produce about 5,900 gallons of beer per batch. 2021 Four-year-old Noah Ruiz hacks mom’s Amazon Prime account and orders 51 cases of SpongeBob Popsicles (that's 918 popsicles), costing just under $2,619. 2021 Lobster diver Michael Packard is swallowed by humpback whale off Provincetown. “I was completely inside; it was completely black.” He estimated he was in the whale for 30 to 40 seconds before the whale finally surfaced and spit him out. 2021 A large potato, named Doug, was discovered by Donna and Colin Craig-Browns in their garden near Hamilton, New Zealand. A weigh-in at a local farming store put Doug at 17.2 pounds. The couple say they've applied to Guinness to have Doug recognized and are waiting to hear back. The current Guinness record for the heaviest potato is a 2011 potato from Britain at just under 11 pounds. 2021 In Maine, a ban on to-go food containers made of Styrofoam (polystyrene) goes into effect. Maine is the first state to take this step. The law prohibits restaurants, caterers, coffee shops and grocery stores from using the to-go foam containers because they cannot be recycled in Maine. 2021 More than 1,400 white-sided dolphins were killed Sunday night in the Faroe Islands, in what local authorities said was a traditional whaling hunt. The Faroe Islands lie halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the Atlantic Ocean. 2021 More than 1,400 white-sided dolphins were killed Sunday night in the Faroe Islands, in what local authorities said was a traditional whaling hunt. The Faroe Islands lie halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the Atlantic Ocean. 2021 A Fargo, N.D., man returning from a four-day trip discovered that a squirrel had stashed 175 pounds of black walnuts under the hood of his Chevrolet pickup in the engine bay. 2021 A man in Tulare County, California was arrested for stealing 42,000 pounds of pistachios.
2021 Aunt Jemima products rebranded as Pearl Milling Company are starting to appear on store shelves. The brand has long been criticized as perpetuating racial stereotypes. (see also June 17, 2020). 2021 At the annual Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Saudi Arabia, where breeders compete for nearly $66 million in prize money, more than 40 camels were disqualified from a camel beauty pageant after getting Botox injections, facelifts and other cosmetic enhancements. 2021 Edward Osborne Wilson died. (born June 10, 1929). An American naturalist, he was considered one of the world’s leading authorities on natural history and conservation. 2021 An historic snowstorm and freezing temperatures cause Texas power grid failure, freezing water pipes and leaving millions without power, heat or water. 2021 One of the world's largest container ships is stuck sideways in the Suez Canal, blocking traffic on the critical waterway. The ship is 224,00 tonnes, 400m (1300 ft) long and has 17,000 containers. More than 200 ships backed up waiting to pass through the canal, which provides passage for about 10% of all world's seaborne trade 2021 Extreme heatwave hits the Pacific Northwest breaking all time high temperature records. Seattle, Washington posted a record 108 degrees; Portland Oregon reaches a scorching 116 degrees breaking its previous record by 8 degrees. 2021 According to the U.N., current world population is estimated to be 7.9 billion people. 2021 Ado Campeol died (born 1928). Italian restaurateur, owned Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso, Italy and was known as 'the father of tiramisu.' The famous Italian dessert was created at the restaurant by his wife Alba and Chef Roberto Linguanotto. 2021 There are numerous shortages of Holiday related food items including Cream Cheese, Candy Canes and Peppermint. 2021 Coronavirus - December: Global cases total more than 266,628,000 with over 5,276,000 deaths; U.S. cases total more than 50,104,000 with more than 809,600 deaths. 2022 A new Guinness World Record for a a champagne pyramid was set at Dubai hotel Atlantis, The Palm with a champagne pyramid composed of 54,740 glasses of bubbly filled with Moet & Chandon champagne that measured more than 27 feet high. 2022 'Meatloaf', Marvin Lee Aday died (born Sept 27, 1947). Actor and singer best known for his bestselling album 'Bat Out of Hell'. 2022 A shipment of around 5 million bees bound for Anchorage, Alaska, died when the Delta Air Lines flight was forced to reroute to Atlanta. The crates sat on the ground for hours in 83-degree weather. The shipment of 200 crates carried 800 pounds of bees and was worth an estimated $48,000. 2022 The last street payphone in New York City was removed today from outside 745 7th Avenue. It will be brought to the Museum of the City of New York as part of an exhibit that looks back at life in the city before computers. 2022 America’s Last Howard Johnson’s Restaurant has closed. The 70-year-old restaurant was located in upstate Lake George, New York. Howard Johnson’s was once considered America’s largest restaurant chain. 2022 Fell into a Vat of Chocolate: Two maintenance workers rescued after falling waist-deep into tank full of chocolate at M&M Mars factory in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Fire crews had to cut a hole in the side of the tank to free them. 2022 Hong Kong’s 260 foot Jumbo Floating Restaurant capsized in the South China Sea, while being towed away from its home of 46 years. The restaurant had encountered adverse weather conditions on its way to a new undisclosed location. 2022 Kraft Macaroni & Cheese announced it has shortened the brand’s name to Kraft Mac & Cheese after 85 years. 2022 Domino’s leaves Italy. Seven years after its debut in Italy, the American pizza giant has formally shut all its stores in Italy after it failed to win over locals. 2022 A Bear Meat vending machine was installed this month in the northern prefecture of Akita, and sells locally killed wild bear captured by members of a local hunting club and processed at a slaughterhouse. The meat, which sells for ¥2,200 (£13/$16.50) per 250g, is proving popular with passengers alighting at a nearby railway station in the town of Semboku. 2022 Sausage Star: French scientist Étienne Klein has apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of chorizo, claiming it was an image of a distant star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Klein apologized for the hoax, saying his intention was "to urge caution regarding images that seem to speak for themselves." 2022 Beginning this school year, California will be the first state to implement the Universal Meals program, providing free meals to all schoolchildren. 2022 The U.N. estimates that world population is now 8 billion people. 2022 U.S. Coronavirus deaths exceed 1 million. 2022 A California court ruled that a bumblebee is a fish under California law, and thus should be protected by the state’s endangered species ordinances. The judges explained that "although the term fish is colloquially and commonly understood to refer to aquatic species," the law, as it is written, makes the legal "definition of fish… not so limited." 2023 Big Berry Picked Today: Costa's berry farm in Corindi, New South Wales, Australia grows world's heaviest blueberry. An Eterna variety blueberry, it weighed in at 20.4 g (0.71 oz), and was 39.31 millimeters (1.55 inches) across, about the size of a ping-pong ball. 2023 Chicago-area school official Vera Liddell, 66, has been charged in the theft of 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million. Liddell was the food service director for Harvey School District 152 for more than 10 years. 2023 A deadly natural gas explosion occurred at the R.M. Chocolate factory in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The explosion killed seven Palmer employees and injured ten others. 2023 An explosion and fire at Texas dairy farm in Castro County has killed 18,000 cows. The fire spread quickly through the holding pens, where dairy cows crowded together waiting to be milked. 2023 An estimated 300-400 lbs of uncooked pasta, spaghetti, elbow macaroni and ziti, was mysteriously dumped alongside a creek near Veterans Park in Old Bridge, New Jersey. 2023 Service was temporarily halted on a line of Mexico City’s subway system after a chicken got loose on the tracks. The chicken was captured when one worker tossed his coat over the bird. 2023 The first Chick-fil-A restaurant to ever open, located in the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, will be shutting its doors down for good. 2023 Bill Granger died (born Aug 29, 1969). An Australian self-taught cook, restaurateur and food writer. He also popularized Avocado Toast. 2023 Brazilian officials confiscated over 63,000 pounds of shark fins that were destined for Asian markets, where they are used in traditional Chinese medicine or served as a delicacy in shark fin soup, and can fetch up to $1,300 per pound. About 73 million sharks are killed around the world for their fins each year. 2023 In the Portuguese town of Levira two vats holding about 2.2m litres of wine at a local distillery burst and flooded the streets. 2023 Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Ding Dongs, Zingers and other sugary treats has been acquired by J.M. Smucker for $5.6 billion. 2023 Anchorage, Alaska: A mama black bear and her cub climbed into a van delivering Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and devoured several boxes of the freshly baked treats. Loud sirens encourged to leave the van. 2023 Olive oil prices rose to fresh records as severe droughts in major producing areas continue to crimp supplies. Global prices of olive oil surged to $8,900 per ton in September. 2023 Michael Chiarello died (born Jan 26, 1962). American celebrity chef, author, winery owner and cooking show host. 2023 An Italian man was crushed to death under thousands of vast wheels of a grana padano hard cheese, which weigh about 40kg each. Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, was buried under the cheeses when a shelf broke in his warehouse in the northern Lombardy region. It took about 12 hours to finally find Chiapparini under the cheeses. 2024 California fast-food workers begin making a minimum wage of $20. The new wage law applies to fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide, with some exemptions. Restaurant owners have warned the increased pay will lead to job cuts and higher prices for consumers. 2024 A team of 12 bakers in Suresnes, a suburb near Paris, France, set a new world record for the longest baguette, 140.53 meters (461 feet) long. A custom-built, slow-moving oven on wheels was used to bake the single continuous piece of dough over several hours. About 320 baguettes are consumed every second in France. 2024 Police in Italy seize $1M worth of fake olive oil. Police raided 18 garages and warehouses, finding 71 tons of an "oily substance" marketed as "extra virgin olive oil" in cans and tanks in the Puglia region. Seven suspects were arrested. 2024 South Korea bans the eating and selling of dog meat, ending the controversial centuries-old practice amid growing support for animal welfare. 2024 Vera Liddell, a former Illinois school employee, was sentenced to 9 years in prison for the theft of 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million. 2024 William Post died (born June 27, 1927). American businessman and inventor. Created the Pop-Tart for Kellogg's, and helped develop other products including Nutri-Grain bars and Rice Krispies Treats. 2024 U.S. postage stamps will increase from 68 cents to 73 cents today. 2024 McDonald’s stores around the world forced to close when their IT system went down during a configuration change. The system was down for about 4 hours. 2024 Tupperware Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, due to mounting losses amid poor demand for its food storage containers.
2024 Mary Elizabeth Burke-Nash died (born Dec 31, 1935). The world's longest-serving flight attendant, she worked for various airlines in a career spanning over 65 years. 2024 The stock market closed above 40,000 for the first time, closing at 40,003.59. 2024 Giulia Manfrini, 36, was surfing in the Mentawai Islands off the coast of West Sumatra, Indonesia, when a swordfish unexpectedly jumped and struck her in the chest. She was taken to a local health center, but she died from her wounds after arriving. 2024 Subway announced it would replace Coca-Cola products with Pepsi starting next year. The change across its 20,000 U.S. locations will take several months beginning January 2025, and run for a decade. 2024 USPS stamp prices increase from 66 cents to 68 cents. 2024 Alice May Brock died (born Feb 28, 1941). An American artist, author and restauranteur. Her Massachusetts-based eatery helped inspire Arlo Guthrie's deadpan Thanksgiving standard, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree". 2024 The stock market closes above 38,000 for the first time, closing at 38,001.81 2024 An explosion in a 500,000-litre tank and resulting fire at a Jose Cuervo tequila plant in central Mexico killed at least 6 workers and forced the evacuation of tourists from the company's area in the town of Tequila. The explosion in one tank triggered a fire in three others. The cause of the blast remains unknown. 2024 More than 4 million chickens will have to be killed after a highly pathogenic bird flu was detected at a large egg farm in Sioux County, Iowa. Overall, 92.34 million birds have been killed since the outbreak began in 2022, according to the U.S.D.A. 2024 Boar's Head has permanently discontinued liverwurst, months after the discovery of an ongoing listeria outbreak tied to a 57 hospitalizations across 18 states, including nine deaths. 2024 Walter George Ehmer died (born May 26, 1966). He was the president, chief executive officer and chairman of Waffle House since 2012. Ehmer had joined Waffle House in 1992. 2024 The U.S. Postal Service asked residents of Northeast Minneapolis not to feed wild turkeys in the area because they have been displaying aggressive behavior towards mail carriers. 2024 President Joe Biden signed a bill officially designating the bald eagle as the national bird. 2024 The stock market closed above 45,000 for the first time. 2024 The CDC has reported that the listeria outbreak linked to Boar's Head deli meat, with a recall of about 7.2 million pounds of deli meat, has now resulted in at least 57 hospitalizations, including 8 deaths in 18 states 2025 World population is 8.09 billion. 2025 About 100,000 eggs were stolen from a trailer at Pete & Gerry's Organics in the Antrim Township borough of Greencastle in Pennsylvania. 2025 John Ash died. A James Beard award-winning author, teacher, and restaurateur. The Father of Wine Country Cuisine. Ash helped teach America the joy of farm-fresh ingredients. 2025 Belgium's Federal Food Agency issued a health warning that said people should not eat their Christmas trees. Agency issued the warning after Ghent city council suggests recipes to ‘reuse’ conifers following holiday. 2025 A traffic camera in the town of Köniz, Switzerland caught a flying mallard duck speeding at 52 km/h (32 mph) in a 30 km/h zone. Police say the duck was likely a repeat offender after being snapped in the same spot in 2018. 2025 André Soltner died (born Nov 20, 1932) A hugely influential French chef and author, based at New York City's Lutèce, from its opening in 1961 as chef, later as partner and from 1973 as owner until 1994. Later was Dean of Classic Studies at the French Culinary Institute. 2025 James Laube died March 22, 2025 (born 1951). An American wine critic, writing for Wine Spectator since 1980. A wine expert on the wines of California. 2025 Carl Doumani died (born Nov 15, 1932). Iconoclastic Napa Valley vintner, former owner of Stags’ Leap Winery and Quixote. 2025 Peter M. F. Sichel died (born Sept 12, 1922). A German-American wine merchant, who popularized the Blue Nun wine brand. 2025 Thieves stole about 450kg (about 992 pounds) worth €90,000 (about $100,000) of edible snails from L'Escargot Des Grands Crus, a farm in Bouzy, France. 2025 A semi-truck carrying about 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives with 14 million bees overturned on a Washington state roadway. Many hives were crushed or leaning on each other, but once the hives are rebuilt and stacked, some of the bees will return, still there’s going to be massive losses. Many bees will swarm in the local areas and start new hives. 2025 Gold reached a new high of $3,446. 2025 April 4: The stock market has dropped over 9% in the past 2 days (from 42,221 down to 38,314) in response to President Trumps new tariffs (essentially a tax on imports from other countries). 2025 April 9: The stock market soars over 2,900 points to 40,608, as president Trump announces a 90 day pause on increased tariffs for goods from most countries. However, he raised tariffs on goods from China to 125% immediately.
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