What they were growing, serving and eating in other years featuring 20 or 12.

12,000BC Grinding stones used on wild grass seeds on Egypt's lower Nile; clay cooking pots first made on Japanese islands; dogs used in the Near East to track game.

2000BC Cattle begin to be raised in the near East. Africa begins to cultivate watermelon, Arabia grows figs, tea and bananas are grown in India, and apples in the Indus Valley.

1275BC Moses and Aaron begin the 40 year migration of the Israelites during which they eat 'manna'.

312BC Engineers complete an aqueduct to give Rome its first pure drinking water.

200BC Japanese produce salt for food preservation from dried seaweed, and early miso from soy beans. Rice production begins there too, and possibly sake.

123BC Roman emperor Gaius passes laws to protect against famine and provide grain to citizens.

125AD Roman bakeries use acorns for flour and produce dozens of varieties of bread and also provide bread to the poor.

200AD Roman breakfasts include bean meal mash and wood-fired bread-cakes dipped in milk and honey.

204AD Roman emperor Septimus Severus buys North African olive oil for free distribution in Rome.

812AD Charlemagne orders various herbs and other plants: anise, coriander, fennel, flax, fenugreek, sage to be planted on German farms.

1202 England regulates bread prices and production.

1204 Damson plums from Damascus planted in France by returning Crusaders,

1212 Tofu introduced to Japan from China where it had been eaten for 2000 years.

1237 An English ship founders off the Brittany coast and accidentally begins the local mussel industry.

1265 London's Covent Garden begins as a fruit stand.

1266 England's Bread Assize places heavier laws on bakers.

1274 Marco Polo visits China's Yunnan province and witnesses the Tartars eating a chopped meat dish (the first beef tartare).

1280 Marco Polo visits other parts of China and is amazed by the produce and markets.

1284 Ravioli becomes popular in Rome.

1420 Grapes from Crete planted in Madeira, commencing the Madeira wine industry.

1512 Portuguese explorers discover nutmeg trees in the Moluccas.

1720 Café Florian opens in St Mark's Square in Venice.

1812 The first recipe for tomato ketchup is published; tomatoes begin to be used in New Orleans Creole dishes.

1820 Tomatoes begin to be eaten in the US after a man eats a raw tomato in the Salem courthouse defying those who say it will kill him. Johnnie Walker Scotch begins production in Kilmarnock, Scotland. Beefeater gin begins in London. 

1912 The first self-service grocery store opens in California; Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce is first sold; Vitamin A is identified and named in the US; Oreo biscuits appear; absinthe is prohibited in the US.

1920 The boysenberry (a cross between blackberries, raspberries and loganberries) is developed in the US; the automatic doughnut-maker is developed and begins use in New York; national Prohibition laws in the US ban sales of alcoholic drinks, but they do not pass in Australia and Scotland.

Seventy-five years ago:

1937 Supermarket shopping carts introduced in Oklahoma City; sodium cyclamate discovered in Illinois; first frozen foods in Britain; a statue to Popeye erected by US spinach growers; Spam is introduced; Rowntree introduces Smarties.

Fifty years ago:

1962 First frozen bread dough introduced in California; tab-opening cans developed; first Taco Bell restaurant opens. 

Twenty-five years ago:

1987 US microwave sales reach 12.6 million; gene-altered bacteria are tested; Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery published; Babette's Feast screens; Kelloggs' Just Right is introduced; River Café, London, opens; Charlie Trotter's opens in Chicago.

(facts from The Food Chronology, James Trager, Aurum, Press, 1996)

 Do you have an interesting fact to add to this list?