A fork is a common tool used in eating in many countries around the world. It usually has three or four stiff metal points that are attached to a handle. Although bigger forks made of bone, bronze or even silver were used in cooking as early as 4,000 years ago, the personal table fork was probably invented around the 4th century AD in the Middle East. The first European country to adopt the fork was Italy where it became really popular among rich people around the 14th century and by the 16th century had become more or less common. From Italy the new fashion of eating spread into Spain and France. Northern Europe was not so fast to accept a new tool. People considered it ‘unmanly’ and ‘too delicate’. It was only in the 18th century that the fork became popular in Great Britain. As for North America, the fork made its way there around the time of the American Revolution.