This Day in History June 28

June 28

1820 Tomato is proven nonpoisonous
1909 1st French air show, Concours d'Avation opens
1919 Treaty of Versailles ending WW I signed
1926 Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies

Birthdays:

1491 Henry VIII of England
1926 Mel Brooks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1931 Junior Johnson, American race car driver

Deaths:

1836 James Madison 4th US pres
1914 Archduke Ferdinand & wife Sofia of Austria assassinated (starts WW I)
1974 Frank Sutton actor (Sgt Carter-Gomer Pyle USMC)
1981 Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist

Thought for the day:

" The only rose without thorns is friendship. "

It seems the "1820 Tomato is proven nonpoisonous" is just another BS "truth" that gets posted on "this day in history" sites. How much of the other "truths" are just as ridiculous?

Here's ONE treatise about it.

"Anyway, back to our story and why June 28, 1820, is so important in tomato history: actually it isn?t. A lot of ?this day in history? sites list today as the day that the tomato was proved to be non-poisonous, but the story is mostly a fable.

According to the stories, a man named Col. Robert Gibbon Johnson from Salem County, NJ, consumed a quantity of ripe tomatoes on this date before an audience, in an effort to prove to his neighbors that tomatoes were not only edible but also delicious, and worthy of commercial cultivation. Johnson was a real person (1771-1850), and was a notable figure in the region, but according to Andrew F. Smith, researching and writing for the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2000, no written records exist for such a demonstration. If such a shocking and heavily attended event was publicized and took place, certainly there would have been reports of it at the time. The story did not appear, however, until 86 years after the supposed event.

Col. Robert Gibbon Johnson
As speculated by Smith, the story had appeal and took on a life of its own. An internet search brings up many versions of it, with some fantastic embellishments:

Johnson ate two pounds of tomatoes; Johnson ate a basket of tomatoes; Johnson ate a bushel of tomatoes. (If Johnson ate a bushel of tomatoes at one sitting, he would have got sick, but it wouldn?t be the fault of the tomatoes.)

Johnson ate the tomatoes in the public square; Johnson ate them in front of the courthouse; Johnson advertised in the papers that he was going to eat the tomatoes at the top of the steps of the county courthouse.

Johnson ate the tomatoes in Salem County, New Jersey, where he lived. Johnson lived in Salem, Massachusetts, and ate them on the county courthouse steps there.

fire department band
Twenty doubting Salem County residents gathered to watch this suicide attempt. No, actually 2,000 gathered for this horrific display. To be more accurate, 20,000 people witnessed the blood-curdling drama. A woman in the crowd fainted at the ghastly sight of tomatoes slipping so easily, so evilly, down Johnson?s throat, and the local fire department band played a dirge.

Johnson ate the tomatoes on June 28, 1820. He ate them on June 28, 1830. He ate them on September 28, 1820. He ate them on September 28, 1846. (It seems likely that if Johnson ate any tomatoes, he ate them in September. In New Jersey or Massachusetts, tomato plants are still in the blossom stage in June, and the fruit isn?t ripe enough to eat until August and September.)"

Another version of the "poisonous" myth that I find interesting...

"The story stems from European folklore. When the tomato was first introduced, it was widely considered poisonous. Aristocrats dined on pewter; the acid in tomatoes reacted with the metal, causing lead poisoning. Peasants ate from plates made of wood and were unaffected, so tomatoes became the poor man?s food. The legend grew, as legends do, to include stories of witches using tomatoes, a member of the deadly nightshade family, to conjure werewolves. The wild tomato?s Latin genus name, Lycopersicon, translates to ?Wolf Peach.?"

One of the things about this, and other forums is that if you are not interested or do not like the topic you don't have to read it. I think a lot of work & dedication goes into this everyday. Keep up the good work

You missed the religious stigma tomatoes had to overcome due to their passionate red color.

Speaking of "Tomatoes" on this day in history Wife and I celebrate 36 years of marriage today and she still has gorgeous natural red hair at 60+ years old . Mine has turned sort of salt and pepper. We have four children (adults now) 2 girls oldest and youngest and 2 boys.
Chuck

My oldest daughter was born this day in 1963

Happy Brithday too her

congratulations and many more too remember as well

well Bob thanks for reading and contributing
the whole point of this daily posting is to peak interest in all of our past
and to allow everyone to contribute to allow everyone to hopefully gain knowlage
I don't claim everything to be 100% correct but I do try to verify everything before posting
with that said just because I can find coresponding sites too confirm facts doesn't mean tey idn't get their info from the same soures

in fact according to wikipedia that has an extremely long article on the tomato and it's history even states that it's use can be traced back before 500 BC

the below is a direct cut from wikipedia

Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s.[29]:17 One of the earliest cultivators was John Gerard, a barber-surgeon.[29]:17 Gerard's Herbal, published in 1597, and largely plagiarized from continental sources,[29]:17 is also one of the earliest discussions of the tomato in England. Gerard knew the tomato was eaten in Spain and Italy.[29]:17 Nonetheless, he believed it was poisonous[29]:17 (in fact, the plant and raw fruit do have low levels of tomatine, but are not generally dangerous; see below). Gerard's views were influential, and the tomato was considered unfit for eating (though not necessarily poisonous) for many years in Britain and its North American colonies.[29]:17
By the mid-18th century, tomatoes were widely eaten in Britain, and before the end of that century, the Encyclop?dia Britannica stated the tomato was "in daily use" in soups, broths, and as a garnish. They were not part of the average person's diet, however, and though by 1820 they were described as "to be seen in great abundance in all our vegetable markets" and to be "used by all our best cooks", reference was made to their cultivation in gardens still "for the singularity of their appearance", while their use in cooking was associated with Italian or Jewish cuisine.

So in closing there's probably even more to this than what you posted as well as wikiapedia's version

for the whole story check the link
the tomato

thanks dzc3
glad you enjoy this posting
and keep reading

Yep, I read about that while researching my post on the "wolf peach".