Canned food was invented nearly half a century before the can opener.

1810 · 1858 · apart: 48 years

Early tins were opened with a hammer and chisel, or a bayonet; dedicated openers arrived only in the 1850s.

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The event

• Appert invents canning1810 · Massy, near Paris. France offered 12,000 francs for a way to preserve food for its army and navy. In 1810 the confectioner Nicolas Appert won it by heating food in sealed bottles, without knowing why it kept.

19th century

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