According to history, the earliest bread was made in or around 8000 BC in the Middle East, specifically Egypt. The quern was the first known grinding tool. Grain was crushed and the bakers produced what we now commonly recognize in its closest form as chapatis (India) or tortillas (Mexico). Did you know that the Egyptians were skilled beer brewers? It’s thought that their brewing expertise combined with the warm climate, produced the world’s first sourdough…through their adding wild yeast to the bread mixture. Booze and bread, people. Throughout the world, in the following centuries, countries developed their own versions of bread. Some leavened, others not. Romans invented water-milling around 450 BC and as such, they took bread to what was subsequently regarded as an art form. Interestingly, the richer Romans considered whiter bread as higher quality and more suited to the educated and wealthy. Likewise, in British medieval times, bread baking became quite the status symbol. The upper classes preferred fine, white loaves, while those of poorer status were left with the rye, bran and coarser breads. for more info