7000 BCE
Earliest fermented beverages
Residue from Jiahu, China shows people fermented rice, honey and fruit into alcohol nine millennia ago. Source — Wikipedia:
Chronological Storyline (11 Milestones)
3000 BCE
Bread and beer in Egypt & Sumer
Yeast fermentation is harnessed for leavened bread and beer across Egypt and Mesopotamia. Source — Wikipedia:
300 BCE
Chinese fermentation with qū (koji)
China masters mould-starter (qū) fermentation for wine, vinegar and soy — the basis of East Asian food chemistry. Source — Wikipedia:
1810 CE
Appert invents canning
Nicolas Appert wins a French prize for preserving food by heating it in sealed jars — the birth of canning. Source — Wikipedia:
1864 CE
Pasteurization
Louis Pasteur shows gentle heating kills spoilage microbes, making milk and wine safe and stable. Source — Wikipedia:
1909 CE
Haber–Bosch synthetic ammonia
Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch fix atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, enabling synthetic fertiliser that now feeds ~half the world. Source — Wikipedia:
1924 CE
Iodised salt fights deficiency
Michigan begins iodising salt, pioneering food fortification to prevent goitre and developmental disorders. Source — Wikipedia:
1928 CE
Vitamin-fortified foods
Discovery of vitamins leads to fortifying staples (milk with D, flour with B-vitamins) against deficiency diseases. Source — Wikipedia:
1939 CE
DDT’s insecticidal power found
Paul Müller discovers DDT’s potency against insects, launching the era of synthetic chemical pesticides. Source — Wikipedia:
1962 CE
Silent Spring & pesticide reform
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring exposes pesticide harms, reshaping agricultural chemistry and regulation. Source — Wikipedia:
1996 CE
Bt insect-resistant crops
Genetically modified Bt crops express their own insecticide, reducing sprayed pesticide use. Source — Wikipedia: