The history of milk over the centuries

Prehistory: the birth of cheese

~ 3 million years BC – 2000 BC

Milk

9000 BC: sheep and goat farms
8000 BC: cattle farms in Asia
5000 BC: cattle farms in Europe
2000 BC: first dairy in Shumen

Science and Technology

Mastery of fire
Cooking of food
First draining of curds
First tools
Invention of the wheel in Mesopotamia

Antiquity: butter and cheese

~ 2000 BC – AD 476

Milk

Butter in Asia
Cheese: eaten by Roman soldiers
1400 B.C.: first cheeses in Mesopotamia and India
100 B.C.: first pressed cheeses

Science and Technology

Rise of mathematics and medicine in Greece (Aristotle, Euclid, Thales, Hippocrates, et al.)
Sundial
Money, paper and corrective glasses in China
Gaul barrels for storing liquids
Roman balance

Middle Ages: the rise of cheese

~ 476 – 1492

Milk

Crucial role of monasteries in cheesemaking and maturing: Maroilles, Munster, Beaufort, etc.
Emergence of other cheeses: Comté, Gruyere, Saint-Nectaire, etc.
1267: first cooperatives in France
Use of rennet to preserve cheese

Science and Technology

Decimal numeral system including zero in India
Invention of Arabic numerals
Compass and astrolabe
Wood-block printing in China and Gutenberg printing press

Renaissance: major discoveries

~ 1492 – 1680

Milk

First hygiene regulation for milk sold in towns
Fermented milk in Turkey and Central Europe
Rise of butter: hand-crank butter churn
1500: appearance of Reblochon
Creation of whipped cream by François Vatel for Louis XIV
Exchange of cheesemaking skills and techniques in Europe

Science and Technology

Birth of modern surgery (Ambroise Paré)
1543: sun-centred solar system (Copernicus)
Probability theory: Pascal, Hugens and Fermat
1609: observation of the sun rotating on its axis (Galileo)
1671: law of gravity (Newton)

Thermometer (Galileo)
1665: microscope observation of plant cell tissue (Hooke)
New plants introduced to Europe by explorers

The Age of Enlightenment: intellectuals

~1680 to 1850

Milk

Creation of Mont d’Or Vacherin cheese
1791: invention of Camembert (Marie Harel)
First animal health measures
Livestock improvement by crossbreeding
First veterinarian schools
Founding of agronomic science
1840: Petit Suisse

Science and Technology

1735: classification of plants and animals (Linné)
1789: birth of modern chemistry (Lavoisier)
1780: isolation of lactic acid (Schelle)
Rise of chemical analysis and synthesis
1790: metric system = universal system of measurement
Birth of agricultural chemistry (Boussingault, Mulder and Liebig)
1750: steam engines
1828: first railway line in France
1840: first harvester in America

First industrial revolution: the railway

~1850 – 1890

Milk

Installation of cattle sheds in large towns to obtain fresh milk
1857: concentrated milk obtained by partial vacuum evaporator
1860: invention of Camembert box (Ridel)
1879: Laval centrifugal separator
1895: milk pasteurization (Emile Duclaux)
Transportation of milk by rail
1889: sterilized milk

Science and Technology

1857: discovery of pasteurization (Pasteur)
1859: theory of evolution (Darwin)
1865: hybridization research (Mendel’s laws of inheritance)
1869: periodic table of chemical elements (Mendeleev)
1872: study of bacteria (Ferdinand Julius Cohn)

1869: invention of refrigerating machine (Charles Tellier)
1872: petrol engine

Second industrial revolution: petrol engine

~ 1890 – 1930

Milk

Industrial butter factories
Industrial pasteurization and packaging of milk
Dry-heat and steam sterilizers
Creation of National Dairy Industry Schools
Industrial yoghurt manufacturing
1921: first French Protected Designation of Origin cheese (Roquefort)

Science and Technology

1900: research into yoghurt fermenting agents (Metchnikoff)
1910: isolation of cheese fermenting agents (Mazé)
1913: discovery of vitamin A
1918: hybrid maize
1927: discovery of penicillin (Fleming) and BCG

1892: first plastic made from milk casein
1895: milk pasteurization (Emile Duclos)
1911: domestic refrigerators
First European automobile (André Citroën)

Third industrial revolution: automation

~ 1930 – 1980

Milk

1935: industrial manufacturing of cheese from pasteurized milk
1954: distribution of milk in French schools
1962: birth of the CAP in the European Union
Generalization of milking machines and milk refrigeration on farms
1967: ultrafiltration
Milk collection by isothermal tankers
1969: quality-based milk payments in France (Godefroy law)

Science and Technology

Nuclear energy
1935-1952: start of molecular biology
1953: DNA structure
1959: first human in vitro fertilization (Edwards)
1962: synthetic proteins
1978: rise of the biotechnology industry

1946: first artificial insemination of cows in France
1960: laser beam
1969: first steps on the moon (Armstrong and Aldrin)
UHT milk
Electronic chip

Fourth industrial revolution: ICT

~ 1980 – 2000

Milk

Industrial quality measures
1980: microfiltration
1980 to 1990: new molecular biology techniques (PCR, etc.)
1984: nanofiltration
Mechanical handling of cheese
Freeze-drying (1953) to conserve more than 3,000 strains of lactic bacteria
1984: dairy quotas in the European Union
1999: creation of the French Charter of Good Agricultural Practices

Science and Technology

1986: cloning of a sheep
1996: mapping of bovine genome in France

1980: implantation in France of the laser
1981: “TGV” French high-speed trains
1986: Mir space station
Personal computers
1990: World Wide Web and public Internet

21st century: nomadism and nanotechnologies

~ 2000 – today

Milk

2000 – 2010: development of milking robots on farms
2000 – 2010: separation of fine milk compounds/development of ingredients (protein and fat)
2000 – 2010: increasingly fine analytical methods (molecular, immunological, electronic, optical, etc.)

Science and Technology

2003: complete sequencing of the human genome
Nanotechnologies and miniaturization
2006: sequencing of the bovine genome
2009: first official genomic indexing of bulls
2011: genomic indexing of cows

2003 – 2005: web 2.0
2007: rise of photovoltaics