By the numbers

Pork and ham

4900 BC: Year pigs were domesticated in China

8: Number of pigs Christopher Columbus had on board when he left Spain for the new world

13: Number of pigs explorer Hernando de Soto brought to the Americas in the 16th century (they became breeding stock for America’s pork industry)

1926: Year canned ham was pioneered by George A. Hormel & Co.

Source: homecooking.about.com