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8000 BCE
First bread made
The earliest bread was made in the Middle East, specifically Egypt. The grian was ground with the quern. The quern was the first known grinding tool. Grain was crushed and the bakers produced what we now commonly recognize in its closest form as chapatis or tortillas.
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3500 BCE
First Fermentation
Based on archaeological evidence that has been found, fermentation was being used in one manner or another by this time. The first fermentation was probably an accident caused by a stray bacteria of yeast. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
3000 BCE
First baked leavened bread
The Ancient Egyptians made the first baked leavened bread. They discovered how to ferment the gruel. After this they cooked it on hot flat stones as was normal. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
1000 BCE
Cultivation of rye
Rye was first grown in southern Russia and central Asia. After eastern Europeans realized that their climate was too harsh for growing wheat, they began to grow rye instead which stood up better to the harsh climate. Rye also grew in the nutrient deprived soil of Europe. https://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/306846/Bread-in-Global-History-Timeline/#vars!panel=3773648! -
800 BCE
Mesopotamians start using animal milling
The Mesopotamians refined milling using two flat, circular stones, stacked on top one another to grind the grain. These stones were continuously rotated by draft animals or slaves. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
600 BCE
Persians invent windmilling
The Persians had invented a windmill system for milling grains http://lyonbakery.com/the-origin-of-bread/ -
450 BCE
Romans invent water-milling
The Romans took bread to what was subsequently regarded as an art form. The richer Romans considered whiter bread as higher quality and more suited to the educated and wealthy. http://lyonbakery.com/the-origin-of-bread/ -
150 BCE
Bakers Guild
The first Bakers Guild is formed in Rome. These guilds would make exclusive bread for the rich and would also give out bread to the poor in times of need. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
1260
Trencher bread
Trencher bread or a bread trencher, was used as an edible plate made from a thick slice of three day old bread. It was commonly served at feast where meat in sauce was served. Trencher bread had a trench cut around the side of the plate to retain any gravy or juices https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-bread-6a8eceb1-88ad-44c9-a5f1-85c506089e01 -
Bagels
A baker in Vienna, Austria, accidentally invented the bagel. He made it as a tribute to the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski III, who led forces to save Austria from Turkish invaders. https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-bagel-2016-2 -
The steel roller mill was invented
The steel roller mill was invented, in Switzerland. This was revolutionary in the world of bread baking. Instead of crushing the grain, the roller system broke it open instead, this made it easier to separate the endosperm, germ and bran http://lyonbakery.com/the-origin-of-bread/ -
Discovery of yeast
Yeast is identified as a plant like organism used for fermentation and leavening, this is thanks to early microscopes. This was previously unknown to bakers, despite early bread still using yeast. Before this discovery bakers did not know what made the bread rise, they just knew how they could get it to rise. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
Baking powder
Chemist Eben Horsford invented baking powder. This allowed bakers to invent quick breads such as banana bread or Irish soda bread. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
White Flour
White flour is invented. People who owned the mills started to just use the endosperm of the grain. More people started eating because it has more health benefits than other flours. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
Wonder bread
Wonder Bread was one of the first sliced breads. During WW2 Wonder Bread went back to unsliced. Today Wonder Bread is one of the biggest sliced breads brands in the world. https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/things-didnt-bread/story?id=29424069 -
The greatest thing since sliced bread
The first automatically sliced commercial bread loaves were produced on July 6, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, using a machine invented by Otto Rohwedder. He faced skepticism from bakers, who thought factory-sliced loaves would quickly go stale or fall apart. Nevertheless, in 1928, Rohwedder’s “power-driven, multi-bladed” bread slicer was put into service at his friend Frank Bench’s Chillicothe Baking Company. https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-sliced-bread -
Enriched White Bread
Continental Baking began adding vitamins and minerals to Wonder Bread as part of a government-sponsored program of enriching white bread, which was notoriously deficient in vitamin and mineral content. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
Ban on sliced bread
The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture banned the sale of sliced bread in hopes of keeping prices down during an era of wartime rationing. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
The Chorleywood process
The Chorleywood bread process is invented. This process was huge in the industrialisation of bread because this process could make a batch of bread in three and a half hours. This allowed producers of bread to make bread faster so they could package it and sell it more efficiently. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread -
The Bread Machine
A Japanese Matsushita invents the first bread machine. It allows you to make bread loafs at home and it was so big because all you had to do was put the ingredients in. After that the machine did the mixing, proofing and baking. https://www.preceden.com/timelines/284041-history-of-bread
