1945-1950

1945 World War II ends;

1946 Frozen french-fried potatoes introduced;

Automatic espresso coffeemaker patented;

National School Lunch Act passed;

1947 First commercial microwave oven introduced;

Jackie Robinson signed by Brooklyn Dodgers;

First aerosol food product marketed (Reddi-Whip);

Sugar rationing ends;

Global airline service inaugurated (Pan American);

First suceessful supersonic aircraft flight (Charles Yeager);

1948 Berlin blockaded by Soviets;

4,500 tons of food airlifted daily;

McDonald brothers franchise their name;

Marshall Plan authorized;

Polaroid camera invented;

Term Cold War first used;

1949 Boxed cake mixes introduced;

NATO formed;

First non-stop flight around the world;

Berlin blockade lifted;

1950 commercial introduction of cyclamates as artificial sweetener;

Korean War begins.


1951-1955

1951 First commercial color television broadcast;

First insect control through irradiation;

UNIVAC electronic digital computer demonstrated;

First trans-continental television broadcast;

Trans-continental direct dial telephone service implemented;

1952 Powdered non-dairy coffee creamer introduced;

1953 Structure of the DNA molecule identified (James Watson and Francis Crick);

McCarthy hearings;

Korean War armistice;

1954 Non-fat dry milk introduced;

Antipolio vaccine developed
(Jonas Salk);

Segregation in public schools declared unconstitutional;

1955 Foreign aid to South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos begins;

Racial segregation on interstate trains and busses banned.


1956-1960

1956 Federal Aid Highway Act (funding for interstate highway system) passed;

Trans-Atlantic telephone cable system inaugurated;

1957 European Common Market formed;

Sputnik I launched by the Soviet Union (October 4th);

1958 Instant tea introduced;

First American Earth satellite, Explorer I, launched;

1959 Project Mercury astronauts selected;

1960 First commercial use of aluminum cans for food and beverages;

Link between cigarette smoking and coronary death rate announced;

John Fitzgerald Kennedy elected President.


1961-1965

1961 First American launched into space (Alan Shepard);

Peace Corps established;

Freedom Rides begin;

First airline jet hijacking;

1962 First American orbits the earth (John Glenn);

Cuba missile crisis;

Pull-tab can opener patented;
Did You Know?

Chicken varietiesChicken à la Keene was prepared at the suggestion of Mr. Foxhall Keene, son of Wall Street operator, Jim Keene. Over time, the term changed and became chicken a la king. Some scholars suggest that this dish was invented in 1923, while others argue that it has been popular in America since 1912. [9: 9]

Buffalo wings [i.e. chicken wings] served with a hot sauce were created in 1964 at the Anchor Bar, Buffalo, New York.[9: 8]

The SpitPresident Abraham Lincoln was very thin. A rumor circulated (folklore) that he prepared soup by boiling the shadow of a chicken that had starved to death.[9: 10]

Dirty rice is a Louisiana Cajun dish composed of rice cooked with chicken gizzards and livers.[9: 11]

Cooker and FoodCold War planners designed emergency travel rations for Americans for use after atomic attack. Manuals offered tips how to prepare travel rations for use outside bomb shelters. Items included were: packages of dehydrated chicken soup; cans of boned chicken, chicken stew, and chicken à la king; cans of tuna, beef stew, baked beans, spinach, even canned hot dogs. [9: 12]

The MoonPita, is eastern Mediterranean in origin. This popular pocket-style wheat bread began to appear in American restaurants during the late 1960s. [9: 13]

The word munchies, as a colloquial term for something to eat, dates to 1917. The term did not become popular, however, until the 1970s.[9: 14]

TV TrayBefore World War II, the consumption of fresh oranges in the United States was highest in the world. After World War II, however, commercial frozen orange juice became popular and eating fresh oranges declined significantly. [9: 15]


 

 

DINING ON THE BRINK OF THE ABYSS

During the Cuba Missile Crisis of October, 1962, the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war. Do you remember what you ate for dinner

October 23rd, 1962: President and Mrs. Kennedy dined with friends
at the White House:


Rockfish Souffle Ambassade
Breast of Pheasant St. Hubert
Wild Rice
Green beans aux Amandes
Salade Mimosa
Brie Cheese
Biscuit Glacee aux Peches
Petits-fours sec


October 27th, 1962: This late-night snack was eaten at the White House by
President Kennedy and his Advisor, David Powers:


Boiled chicken
Carrots
Potatoes
Squash.
[9: 7]

 

1963 Dr. Martin Luther King delivers I Have A Dream speech;

March on Washington D.C.;

President Kennedy's Berlin speech;

First cooking demonstration on television (Julia Child);

Equal pay for equal work bill signed into law;

President Kennedy assassinated;

1964 Federal Food Stamp Program by Department of Agriculture begins;

Mohammed Ali becomes heavyweight boxing chamption;

Gulf of Tonkin incident;

Health warnings on cigarette packages issued;

Warren Commission report;

1965 First U. S. combat forces arrive in South Vietnam;

Malcolm X assassinated;

Tang (developed for the U. S. space program) introduced nationally;

Civil rights march (Selma to Montgomery, Alabama);

Watts riots (Los Angeles, California);

Great Society program announced (President Johnson).


1966-1970

1966 Territorial waters jurisdiction extended to 12 miles;

Catholics permitted to eat meat on Friday;

Medicare inaugurated;

Miranda ruling implemented;

1967 Compact microwave ovens for home use introduced;

Six Day War (Arab-Israeli);

1968 Genetically engineered miracle rice developed;

Tet Offensive (Vietnam);

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated;

Robert Kennedy assassinated;

Poor people's march on Washington to focus on hunger in America;

1969 President Nixon hosts White House Conference on Food and Nutrition;

First artificial heart developed;

First manned moon landing (Apollo 11: Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins: July 20th);

Cyclamate artifical sweetener banned;

Woodstock folk-rock festival;

First Boeing 747 flight (Seattle to New York City);

1970 Kent State University antiwar demonstration (4 students killed);

First Earth Day celebration;

18 year old Americans receive voting rights.


1971-1976

1971 Sex discrimination in hiring ruled unconstitutional;

Bussing to end racial segregation in public schools ruled constitutional;

National railroad system (Amtrak) begins operation;

1972 Frozen yogurt introduced;

Equal Rights Amendment (27th) passed;

Watergate break-in;

Last American ground combat forces leave Vietnam;

1973 Food and Drug Administration nutrition labeling regulations;

Woman, Infants and Children Program (WIC) signed;

Home food processors introduced;

Arab oil embargo;

1974 Arab oil embargo lifted;

First supermarket check-out scanners used;

1975 American-Vietnam War ends;

American consumption of soft drinks passes coffee;

Joint Soviet-American Apollo-Soyuz space mission;

1976 American Bicentennial celebration.

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