The Chicken Came First

It's hard to imagine what the world must have been like before The Chicken, the foodstuff so ubiquitous that it shows up on our rooftops, in our punchlines, and as a central ingredient for nearly every cuisine in the world. So where did it all begin? (Don't say "the egg" — we've heard that one before.) According to Smithsonian Magazine, by the side of a road in Greece, somewhere around fifth century B.C. The piece goes on to detail the entire, 10,000-year-spanning history of our feathered friend, from the earliest fossils found in North Eastern China to the cockfighting ampitheaters of Greece all the way through the first use of artificial incubation in Ancient Egypt:

"The Egyptians constructed vast incubation complexes made up of hundreds of 'ovens.' Each oven was a large chamber, which was connected to a series of corridors and vents that allowed attendants to regulate the heat from fires fueled by straw and camel dung. The egg attendants kept their methods a secret from outsiders for centures."

The article also covers the introduction, and subsequent popularization, of chicken in the American diet, the resurgence of interest in exotic breeds, and the world's most famous chicken dishes. General Tso's anybody?

How the Chicken Conquered the World from Smithsonian Magazine