Thursday, July 15, 1869. :   

Margarine is patented in Paris.

     In the 1860s Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France offered a prize to the maker of a suitable substitute for butter, for use by the military and the lower classes. The contest was won by French chemist Hippolyte Mège Mouriés. The primary component of the product was tallow, but the formula included a fatty component that, when mixed, had a pearly lustre. Thus, the product was named after the Greek word for pearl - margaritari. The product was patented on 15 July 1869.