Mental Floss

26 Things That Are Younger Than You Think

Ciabatta bread is younger than Beyoncé.

Bymentalfloss .com|
This image would have made no sense prior to the 1970s.
This image would have made no sense prior to the 1970s. | ViDI Studio via Shutterstock

Scanning the barcode on a loaf of ciabatta bread at a supermarket isn’t considered particularly revolutionary today, but before 1982, this wasn’t something you could cross off your to-do list.

The first supermarket—a Piggly Wiggly—opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 1940s, inventor Norman Joseph Woodland came up with the idea for a barcode, but it wasn’t used in supermarkets until 1974. And while bread feels like it’s been around forever, ciabatta is a different story. It was invented in 1982 to compete with the French baguette.

These, and a lot of other modern day items, aren’t as old as you might think. On this episode of The List Show, we’re going to talk about 26 things that are younger than you would expect, and groceries are just the beginning. Subscribe to Mental Floss on YouTube for new videos every week.

Discover More List Show:

Home/THE LIST SHOW