Looking for a way to feed his troops on long marches, Napoleon offered 12,000 francs as a reward to anyone that could sustain food 4 long periods of time. Thanks to Parisian confectioner and chef, Nicolas Appert, this was achieved in 1810 through boiling food in glass jars wrapped in Canvas and Wax.
The rest as they say is history.
Read here for more details (thanks to the Kitchn)
In my next post, I will talk about how canning helps us with what temperature we should reheat food.