Chicken or Egg

Which came first? #6 · Inventions

Chicken or Egg, October 6: Canned food, The can opener, The telephone, The parking meter, The first scanned barcode

Puzzle #6, Inventions, Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Six things, one order. Here is the answer, earliest to latest.

1. 1
   Canned food1810

   Peter Durand patented preserving food in tin cans in 1810. Soldiers opened them with bayonets and rocks for decades.

2. 2
   The can opener1858

   Ezra Warner's can opener arrived 48 years after the can. Until then, a hammer and chisel.

3. 3
   The telephone1876

   Bell's patent was granted in March 1876. The first words down the line were a call for his assistant.

4. 4
   The parking meter1935

   Oklahoma City installed the first one in 1935. Drivers hated it immediately.

5. 5
   The first scanned barcode1974

   A pack of Wrigley's gum was scanned in Troy, Ohio on June 26, 1974.