Food

Food is an integral part of human history, serving as both sustenance and a symbol of culture, trade and power. From the earliest days of hunter-gatherers to modern-day globalization, what people eat has influenced the course of history.

Featured Overview

From spaghetti and meatballs to General Tso's chicken, many dishes Americans associate with international cuisine were actually invented in the US of A! Here are 8 foods you didn't know were invented in in America, in this episode of History Countdown.

8:04m watch

Fries With That? A Brief History of Drive-Thru Dining, In-N-Out Burger

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Featured Overview

From spaghetti and meatballs to General Tso's chicken, many dishes Americans associate with international cuisine were actually invented in the US of A! Here are 8 foods you didn't know were invented in in America, in this episode of History Countdown.

8:04m watch

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Coffee rationing poster from World War II.

Coffee increased energy and alertness on the battlefield, improved morale and was even used by medics to help prevent shock.

How an Enslaved Man Helped Jack Daniel Develop His Famous Whiskey

Nathan 'Nearest' Green, who taught Jack Daniel the art of whiskey distillation, went unacknowledged for more than 150 years.

Boy and girl eating ice cream

The origins of ice cream, sorbet and other chilled dairy treats are difficult to pin down—but span back to antiquity.

People in 1904 standing outside a refreshment stand

Peanut butter. Ice cream cones. Cotton candy. The 1904 St. Louis exposition popularized some of America’s favorite foods.

Combat Rations

Combat Rations in WWII

During World War II, feeding thousands of troops in enemy territory wasn't easy. Discover how soldiers carried C and K rations into battle with them and how the U.S. worked to improve the quality of the food.

1:24 watch

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Food
Three boiled eggs, one halved.

Eggs offer an amazing package of nutrition—and humans have been poaching wild bird eggs since time immemorial. Keeping chickens to eat their eggs is a more recent (but still ancient) practice.

Are these candies on your favorites list?

13:05m watch

From its bullpen origins to becoming a cultural icon, find out how the shredded bubble gum designed for baseball players changed the candy industry forever.

4:37m watch

Adam meets with Dr. Justin Shimek and Dr. Kathy Westphal to taste test an original 1980s French fry, in this clip from Season 1, Episode 4, "Fast Food Makeover."

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A plate brimming with homemade chocolate chip cookies

Born at New England's Toll House Restaurant, chocolate chip cookies quickly rivaled apple pie as America's favorite sweet treat.

Coffee rationing poster from World War II.

Coffee increased energy and alertness on the battlefield, improved morale and was even used by medics to help prevent shock.

Two friends hands toasting with glasses of craft beer at the pub or bar. taproom

Evidence suggests that people were drinking beer as far back as 13,000 years ago, while distilled liquor arrived much later.

Chinese dim sum at a restaurant.

Dim sum for Christmas? The experiences of immigrants in New York explain how the tradition began.

A clerk removes cans of cranberry from the shelves in a supermarket in Jackson Heights, Queens, Nov. 10, 1959.

A health scare caused Americans (including President Eisenhower) to forgo serving cranberry sauce at their holiday tables.

A milk bottling plant, circa 1950.

From contaminated raw milk to tainted meat, outbreaks have spread rapidly through the country's food supply chain, with deadly consequences.

From Betty Crocker to Ronald McDonald, companies have used human mascots as the 'face' of their products. Not all have stood the test of time.

Boy and girl eating ice cream

The origins of ice cream, sorbet and other chilled dairy treats are difficult to pin down—but span back to antiquity.

People in 1904 standing outside a refreshment stand

Peanut butter. Ice cream cones. Cotton candy. The 1904 St. Louis exposition popularized some of America’s favorite foods.

M&M's and Hershey

Some confections even played a role in U.S. history.

Bowl of buffalo wings with blue cheese dip, Romania - stock photoBowl of buffalo wings with blue cheese dip on the wooden backround

The origin story of spicy, saucy chicken wings has more than one hero.

How Famous Amos Built—And Lost—His Cookie Empire

Wally Amos parlayed his aunt's chocolate chip cookie recipe into a gourmet snack food juggernaut.

Enslaved workers in Brazil picking coffee beans, c. 1885, by 19th-century Brazilian photographer Marc Ferrez

From stirring up coffee house rebellions to supporting the Industrial Revolution, the popular caffeinated brew has fueled global change.

Customers enjoying steins of beer at the Old Heidelberg Brewery, in Chicago, c. 1900.

'Beer barons' like Pabst, Schlitz and Busch forged brewing dynasties with their pale, effervescent lager.

A fall harvest of corn, pumpkins and squash.

These dietary staples were cultivated over thousands of years by Indigenous peoples of America.

Chicken Nuggets Were Invented in a Laboratory

Before McDonald's pioneered McNuggets for fast food consumption, a Cornell University researcher developed bite-size breaded chicken sticks that could be easily fried and frozen.

From spaghetti and meatballs to General Tso's chicken, many dishes Americans associate with international cuisine were actually invented in the US of A! Here are 8 foods you didn't know were invented in in America, in this episode of History Countdown.

8:04m watch

From fire to the air fryer, humans have a remarkable history of innovating in the kitchen. Discover the 10 kitchen inventions that changed food forever, in this episode of History Countdown.

10:48m watch

15 of America's Most Historic Restaurants, Katz Deli NYC

This selection of enduring eateries reflects the nation's mosaic of cultures.

Why the Candy Bar Market Exploded After World War I

By the end of the 1920s, more than 40,000 different candy bars were being made in the U.S.

The History of Food Stamps in the United States

The program was designed to aid American farmers and businesses—as well as the hungry—and had its largest expansion under a Republican president.

The History of Kellogg's Breakfast Cereal

It started with some slightly moldy dough. Then it revolutionized the morning meal.

Candy Corn

The tri-colored confection was designed to look like chicken feed and came out at a time when about half of Americans worked on farms.

Halloween Candy Corn

While the fears may be overblown, Halloween crimes involving poison have occurred.

Frozen Food Industry

Clarence Birdseye took note of how Indigenous Canadians 'flash froze' their fish—and forever changed the way Americans ate.

The History of Pickles

From ancient Egypt to the Chicago World's Fair, pickles have had a staggeringly long run on the world's culinary stage.

Boy in skeleton costume holding bowl full of halloween candy

For most American kids, it wouldn’t be Halloween without trick-or-treating for candy. But that wasn’t always the case.

HUNGRY America's State Foods

Did you know that New York has a state muffin and that Jell-O is the state snack of Utah?

From applesauce sucked out of a tube to shrimp cocktail and fresh vegetables, space food has come a long way.

Babe Ruth or Baby Ruth: Who Was the Candy Bar Named After?

The Curtiss Candy Company said it was inspired by a president's daughter. Baseball slugger Babe Ruth disagreed. A patent court decided the case in 1931.

History of Hamburgers

The sandwich's roots trace back to ancient times, but it took on its modern form in the United States.

HUNGRY From New York to Montreal: What's in a Bagel?

Find out just how these two delicious (and different) schools of bagel making came to be.

A needy person takes tea and coffee from a table in paper cups.

Coffee's importance can be traced across the centuries through the names we’ve come to know it by.

Golden Beer in a Glass Stein for Beer Fest

The first fermented beverages most likely emerged alongside the development of cereal agriculture some 12,000 years ago.

Two pints of beer.

Beer: it’s the chosen beverage of English kings, Egyptian stonemasons and Homer Simpson. And it has a long and celebrated history going back to 3400 B.C.

Corn became a vital crop for the survival of early civilizations in the Americas thousands of years ago.

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Chicken soup with vegetables in white bowl. Grey stone background. Top view.

It’s likely you’ve heard the adage “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” and everyone knows about the reputed healing powers of a steaming bowl of chicken soup. But would you think to place potato slices on a fever-stricken patient’s forehead? Or shampoo with mayonnaise to give your mane that healthy shine? Foods have […]

The History of Ketchup

It's America's favorite condiment, but ketchup's long history dates back to imperial China—and at one point it was completely tomato-free.

A Horn & Hardart postcard with instructions on using an Automat.

Over a century after Horn & Hardart opened its first Automat in New York City, take a look back at America’s first fast food chain.

Designing the average food truck kitchen requires specialized engineering.

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Beer barrels being emptied

The earliest farmers planted grains in order to brew beer for politically expedient feasts, according to a new study.

An ancient corncob recently discovered in Peru.

Nearly seven millennia before movie nights and microwaves, humans snacked on popcorn, according to a new study.