An Inventive Hunger Ploy

The story of canned food begins in 1795 when Napoleon Bonaparte offered a 12,000-franc prize for a method to preserve food for his army, which was suffering from hunger and scurvy. French chef Nicolas Appert won the prize in 1809-1810 by discovering that heating food in sealed containers prevented spoilage, initially using glass jars. Shortly after, in 1810, Englishman Peter Durand patented the use of tin-coated iron cans, which proved more durable and practical for military and commercial use.

The Chisel and Hammer Era

Despite the advent of canned food, there was one significant hurdle: opening the cans themselves. Early cans were incredibly robust, often made of thick wrought iron, and manufacturers' instructions simply suggested using a hammer and chisel. Soldiers and sailors in particular famously resorted to brute force, employing bayonets, rocks, or even shooting the cans to get to the contents.

The Dawn of the Opener (and its Evolution)

It wasn't until 1855 that Robert Yeates in England patented the first can opener, a lever-knife design that required considerable effort. Three years later, in 1858, Ezra Warner in the United States patented a similar, more complex lever-type opener with a sharp sickle blade. The familiar rotating cutting wheel design, the precursor to modern can openers, was first patented by William Lyman in 1870, though early versions were difficult to operate. The universally easy-to-use can opener, with a second serrated wheel to grip the rim, only emerged in 1925, finally making canned goods truly convenient for everyone.