1035 |
Paper recorded as being used for wrapping in Cairo. |
1040 |
Movable type printing invented by Pi Cheng in China. |
1100 |
Paper first arrived in Europe form China. |
1250 |
Tinplate developed in Bohemia (to prevent armour from rusting). |
1450 |
Guttenberg’s printing press. |
1630 |
First recorded mention of ‘grocer’s paper bags’. |
1700 |
First commercial glass factory (Egham, UK) produces 3 million bottles
per year. |
1750 |
Jute sacks in general use. |
1794 |
Schweppes design the famous ‘lay down’ bottle for mineral
waters, the idea being to keep the cork wet, and thus gas-tight. |
1795 |
Napoleon offers prize for food preservation technique. |
1806 |
Bryan Donkin patents machine for making paper in reel form. |
1807 |
Humphrey Davy predicted the existence of a new metal and named it
aluminium. |
1810 |
Hot canning system of food preservation patented. |
1820 |
First food canning factory set up at Dartford, Kent. |
1825 |
First carbon dioxide-pressurised dispensing container, the ‘Regency
Portable Fountain’ devised by Charlie Plinth for soda water. |
1825 |
Danish scientist Oersted produced the first tiny pellet of aluminium. |
1850 |
Decorative fancy paperboard boxes in use. |
1855 |
First commercially produced ingot of aluminium. |
1855 |
Can-opener designed by Robert Yeates in the UK (the famous ‘bull’s
head’ model followed ten years later in the USA). |
1860 |
Parkes in the UK produced the first synthetic plastic ‘parkesine’. |
1860 |
Paperboard tubes described. |
1869 |
Celluloid invented in the USA as substitute for ivory for billiard
boards. |
1870 |
Folding cartons developed in the USA by bag-maker Robert Gair. |
1871 |
Corrugated board patented by Jones in the USA (as a cushioning material). |
1879 |
Margaret Knight patented the paper-bag making machine in the USA. |
1880 |
Paperboard cartons first used on large scale by Kellogg in the USA. |
1880 |
Fully automated can-making machinery developed (soldered tops). |
1890 |
Cardboard boxes developed in the USA by Robert Gair. |
1890 |
Paper-based pill boxes patented by Robinson in UK. |
1903 |
Corrugated boxes first produced on a large scale. |
1903 |
First fully automatic glass bottle-blowing machine, Toledo, USA. |
1909 |
Bakelite invented by Belgian/American Leo Baekeland. |
1911 |
Wax-coated liquid-tight cartons for milk described (first produced
in USA in 1915). |
1912 |
First aseptic food packaging system (for cream) described in Scandinavia. |
1920 |
Staudinger in Germany produced the first artificial macromolecules
(polymers). |
1922 |
Development of crimped-on hermetic seal for metal cans renders soldering
obsolete and makes high speed food production feasible. |
1930 |
First beer cans, with conical, tops and crown cork developed. |
1931 |
Liquid-tight cartons (the Perga system) commercialised. |
1933 |
Bottles made from moulded fibre described (FESA) in France. |
1933 |
Polythene isolated by Swallow & Perin of ICI. |
1935 |
Cellophane. the first transparent film, produced in the UK. |
1937 |
Moulded pulp egg trays designed (Hartman). patented in Europe. |
1940 |
Liquid cartons first used for milk on large scale in Chicago. |
1941 |
Goodhue & Sullivan in the USA produced the first practical aerosol
container. |
1948 |
Denis Gabor in Hungary discovers the holographic effect. |
1950 |
First two-piece (impact extruded) aluminium beer can produced in
Switzerland. |
1951 |
Original ‘TetraPak’ designed. |
1956 |
Flip-top carton launched. |
1963 |
Pull-tab easy open end for beer cans. |
1964 |
DWI Aluminium two-piece can for beer developed. |
1970 |
Two-piece can in steel for beer launched. |
1972 |
Stay-on easy open tab for beer cans. |
1972 |
First ‘widget’ beer-foaming device manufactured for
Guinness. |
1980 |
Micro-flute corrugated board launched. |