This Massachusetts Man Had the First Known Fork in America

It was 1620 when the Pilgrims stumbled upon Massachusetts and decided to stay. Those religious zealots, known as Puritans, were bound for an area of Virginia – what we now call New York – but due to some poor weather and even worse calculations, they missed the entrance to the Hudson River and found the tip of Cape Cod instead.

Since the tip of Cape Cod is not an ideal place to be in November, especially when you have no immediate prospects for shelter, they skedaddled it across Massachusetts Bay to Plymouth, where they were at least somewhat protected from the Atlantic gales.

Not only did the Pilgrims lack adequate shelter when they arrived in Massachusetts but they also lacked proper farming tools, draft animals like horses or oxen for labor, and a clue about how to survive the coming winter.

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Another item the Pilgrims lacked was the fork, the very eating utensil we take for granted today.

Medium.com says that while the first "verifiable use of the personal fork" dates back to the 4th century Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the technology traveled slowly.

"By the 13th century, English Royals were using forks now and then," says the website. But, forks did not become "commonplace" until the late 17th century.

There wasn't a fork to be found on the Mayflower.

The New England Historical Society (NEHS) says, "When not eating with their hands, colonists dined with spoons and knives." NEHS says, "They had plenty of napkins because they ate much of their food with their hands. Napkins were vital."

The New England Historical Society says, "The colonists barely even heard of forks."

"Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop had the first recorded fork in America, which he obtained in 1633," according to the New England Historical Society.

Governor Winthrop kept a detailed journal that included numerous reports of UFO sightings in the skies over Massachusetts.