As the story goes, in 1869, Napolean III launched a campaign in search of a cheap replacement for butter to be used for the navy and the lower classes. It was this that led to the first patent on what was then called “oleomargarine”…and the rest is history…to be discussed in later posts.

—I learned about this fact from: Toussain-Samat, M. A history of food. Wiley-Blackwell; UK, 2009.