Original Posting: 12/21/1999
1500s - Preservation of food through fermentation, spicing and salting, leads to the development of foods such as sauerkraut and yogurt. This remains the only way to store foods for long periods of time until the 1920s, when refrigerators with freezer compartments become available for home use.
Late 1700s - Antoine Lavoisier showed that food and oxygen were metabolized into carbon dioxide, water, and heat. He then invented the “calorimeter” to measure the body heat of animals, or the amount of calories they were burning. This leads to the knowledge hat people will become overweight because they consume more calories than they expend through physical activity.
1879 - Saccharin, the first artificial sweetener, is accidentally discovered by a chemistry research assistant at Johns Hopkins. More than 100 years later, the first fat substitute, Simplesse, is approved by the FDA in 1990. Both sugar and fat substitutes have led to the creation of a whole new market of low-fat and/or low-sugar food products. While these products open up dietary worlds to people who must restrict their sugar or fat intake, many consumers think these products give them permission to overindulge.
1897 - The Boston Marathon, one of the world's most famous marathons, begins with 15 entrants. In 1997, after 100 years, there are 38,708 participants. With participation from world class runners to average folks with a fitness goal, the Boston Marathon shows that serious athletics are no longer just for the young, professional athlete.
1906 - Unsanitary practices in the meat-packing industry are graphicially described in Upton Sinclair’s book, “The Jungle,” and brings the issue of food safety and quality to the public’s conscience. It eventually leads to regulations in food labeling in 1938. Today, food safety and labeling continue to be hot topics, as consumers demand more and more information about the content of their food.
1917 – The first athletic shoes are sold by U.S. Rubber under the brand name Keds®. Then in 1964, athletic shoe design really took off when Bill Bowerman designed the first running shoe. He and another man, Phil Knight, eventually found a company that would later become NIKE, Inc.
