You've seen those all-in-one fork/knife/spoon combos they sell for picnic baskets, right? When do you suppose those were invented?
I figured they were 20th century, but it appears that the concept goes back to Roman times. Epi-log (the blog side of Epicurious) featured a short article on such a device today. (I discovered the link from the SCA Food and Feasts list; thanks!) You can find the article, and a good picture of the device, here. As the commenter noted, the user of this item "could cut or extract food with its knife or spike respectively, stir food with the spatula, eat with the tool's fork or spoon, and remove any morsels from his teeth with the toothpick."
I don't normally agree with the point of view which holds that there is "nothing new under the sun", but every once in a while, phenomena like this device make me wonder.
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