First eating utensils were knife and spoons based from woods or sea shells. They were discovered around 500.000 years ago.
Modern design of Spoon was introduced over 3000 years ago in Egypt, where they were used in religious ceremonies and food preparation process.
Fork was introduced also around 3000 years ago in its modern form - wooden handle with two to three slim pines for piercing the food.
Chopsticks were introduced around 3500 years ago during the reign of Chinese Shang Dynasty. Since then they slowly spread across many Asian territories.
Drinking straw was first used over 5 thousand years ago in ancient Sumeria. Modern day design was standardized with the invention of paper straw by Marvin C. Stone in 1888.
Europeans were introduced with the fork in 16th and 17th century. They gained popularity only after they found favor of French Royal Court.
Spoon gained popularity in Europe in from 14h century and beyond.
United States was one of the last regions to adopt fork and spoon on every dining table. They did it at the start of 19th century.
According to some studies over 1.5 billion people eat with knife, fork and spoon; 1.2 billion with chopsticks, 350 million with knife and hands; and several billion with their hands only.
Royal decree from French King Louis XIV forbid the use of sharp tipped knives at the tables, thus ending centuries long tradition of using combat ready knife in everyday life.
Modern day design of fork was created in 19th century Germany.
Annually , population of Asia spends around 80 billion chopsticks. Majority of them is used in China and Japan.
China uses over 25 million fully grown trees for annual production of chopsticks.
Joseph Friedman's invented of bendy straw in 1937.
Skewer was used in cooking food over fire for countless ages. In modern day, skewers are used as a holder of candy, garnishes on cocktails, and many other products.
Lack of eating utensils in early United States created tradition of always using utensils in right hand, even if person is left-handed.
American and British sailors continued to ignore use of knives and forks while on the sea, considering them unmanly.
The most common material from which modern eating utensils are made is stainless steel. It was introduced in early 20th century.
Arrival of plastic in 1960s enabled production of cheap and disposable eating utensils. Modern manufacturers are trying to shift their production to biodegradable materials.
Modern day ingenuity enabled creation of many hybrid utensils which combined the features of knife, fork and spoon. They are spork, knork, spife and sporf.