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300
Spices and their tariffs
Spices start to become popular among the people. They start to order for more spices on their tariffs, then later on they start using spices on their foods and not just only for scents and odor removal. -
Jan 1, 1100
Arabs influence the use of slavery to work their sugar plantations
Arabs start to use slaves to grow and cultivate sugar crops for them. They later introduce the idea to Europe who starts their own slavery plantations of their own. -
Jan 1, 1266
Black Death
Black Death (Bubonic Plague) begins with the Genoese. Spices were thought to be the cure for the disease, but in reality they were the reason why the disease spread so fast. The disease then later kills people in almost every part of Europe. -
Sep 6, 1492
Spices with Columbus
Christopher Columbus sets out to look for spices in the Americas. He looks forward to bringing back more spices for the king and queen. Regions in the world included: Southwest Asia, Europe -
Nov 6, 1492
The discovery of maize
Columbus and his men arrive in Mexico, which they mistaken to be Southwest Asia. When they arrive, instead of finding gold like the expected, they are introduced to maize by the Incas. Regions in the world included: Americas, Asia (China) -
Jan 1, 1493
Columbus returns for more maize
Columbus returns from his voyage in Mexico. When the king and queen are fascinated with the maize he brought back, he returns back to Mexico for more. -
Jan 1, 1493
Columbus and sugar
Columbus goes to the Pacific Islands and realized that the land there was highly suitable for growing sugar so when he returns in 1493, he brings the sugar crop with him to produce. Regions in the world included: South & Central America, Europe -
Jan 1, 1503
Sugar plantations and slaves
After Columbus brings sugar back to Spain and the king and queen learn about the use of slaves, they open up their first mill in Hispaniola. The mill was to be worked with slave labor. -
Jan 1, 1519
Magellan's shot at spices
Magellan, from the country Portuguese, goes to Spain and in their favor asks if he can on a voyage around the world to find spices. He dies, but another member on his ship completes the voyage to bring back spices to Spain. -
Jan 1, 1530
Europeans and potatoes
When Spanish conquistadors return from their journey, they bring potatoes with them from the Incas. Potatoes were not as successful at impressing people as other goods did. -
Jul 16, 1555
Maize in China
Maize is also in China. Records show that maybe maize was present in China before Columbus discovered it in Europe. -
Potato growth
The potato in introduced in Italy and the Low Counties. This later introduced the coming of potato growth in different parts of Europe. Regions in the world included: Europe, North Ameica -
Spice price drops
The availability of spices on the tariffs cause the prices of spices to fall. This made spices become a more common type of food in this society. -
Famine creates a change of mind and appetite
A famine hits France, and as the people are desperate for food and something to live on, their views on potatoes change. They no longer believe that a potato is harmful and causes disease, but that the potato was a great way to keep them alive. -
A royal potato
The potato is introduced into aristocratic society when Parmentier presents the potato flowers to the king and queen of France, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. This changed the minds of many people in the royalty view, that potatoes were not as low as they thought they were to be. -
Better food for armies
Canned foods have now transformed military logistics. Armies are able to travel further, and survive better with food to last them longer than they have before. Food for the armies are also better for their appetite, as they can now bring food that wouldn’t be spoiled as if they bought it before. Regions in the world included: Europe, North America -
Sugar and preservation
Nicolas Appert uses the idea of sugar to preserve fruit to influence the invention of the preservation of food. This later led to the preservation of canned foods which was also another major food of history. -
Nicolas Appert and supplying the Army of France
When the government of France offers a reward for the person that can create something to preserve food for the French Army, Nicolas Appert, a cook, won the prize. His idea was to preserve food inside of glass jars, by sealing them shut. -
Nicolas Appert's book
Nicolas Appert publishes a book that teaches how to preserve food for all of France to use. Even though this book was published, Nicolas was not the one that ended up receiving credit for his preservation technique. -
Canned foods as a preservation?
; Bryan Donkin invents a new way to preserve food in tin cans, unlike Nicolas Appert who used glass bottles. This was in the future, a very much used invention. -
Potato famine
Potato famine strikes the country of Ireland. A million people die, and many others flee to the United States. -
Can openers
; Decades after Bryan Donkin’s invention of preserving food inside tin cans, can openers are now created. This helped people to really make the use of tin cans useful. So useful that even in the present modern times, tin cans and can openers are still used. -
Availability of sugar
Like spices, the need to use sugar is now higher. This eventually led to the availability of sugar from the sugar plantations better, and causes the price of sugar to drop much lower. Sugar also becomes a commonly used food. -
Crossing Japanese dwarf varieties
Japanese dwarf varieties which had very strong stalks, are crossed with other varieties from different nations. This leads to newer production of wheat grains that can resist diseases that the past stalks weren’t able to. Regions in the world included: Europe, America -
Rice and it's research and development for new varieties
The International Rice Research Institute established to speed up the development of new varieties of rice. They developed rice along with new seeds in Japan with seed varieties from other countries. Regions in the world included: Asia, Europe -
Norman Borlaug's new wheat release
Norman Borlaug releases new seed which was crossed-created by crossing Norin 10 and American wheat, Brevor. The new wheat was not affected by the length of night and day, and was very good at resistance against disease to the crops. With nitrogen fertilizer, the new wheat grains were even able to produce more than double the outcome of Mexico’s traditional varieties. -
PI 178383, Jack Harlan's "Hopelessly useless wheat"
Harlan finds a wheat grain in Turkey which he thought was useless, actually became quite useful when bred with American wheat. This wheat product created a new wheat stalk that resisted against diseases the old wheat stalk would’ve been prone to. This new wheat discovery was mass produced all over the Northern Pacific to make it better and more efficient for humans to cultivate. -
A monsoon hits India, bringing up parts of the past with it
A monsoon hits India and their wheat production falls to nearly one fifth of their previous production. This was predicted earlier centuries ago, and this was sort of like a representation of what they theorized. -
New development of rice
New variety of rice named IR8 is developed. It’s able to produce five tons of rice without fertilizer, and when it is added nearly ten tons were produced. -
Drought in India
A terrible monsoon hits India, and the country is struck with drought. The United States provides India with one fifth of its wheat production to India’s emergency food aid, which was somewhat predicted by Malthus centuries ago. He predicted that India would be left to starve, and this event isn’t quite all that true, but it was similar to his theory. -
Green Revolution
William Gaud of the United States Agency for International Development announces that because of rice, Asia is able to start their green revolution. This Green Revolution is what caused China to be the world’s top producer in rice. -
World's biggest rice producer
China becomes the world’s largest rice producer in the world. It’s country produces 100 percent rice. -
Corn ethanol
Corn-ethanol is mostly used for fuel In automobiles. This becomes a major concern as later on this might become an environmental concern. -
Period: to
Major Foods
Major foods of the world, and all the events in relation to them in An Edible History of Humanity.
