The Tea Chronology: 486 Dated Events, 2737 BC to 1934
Compiled by Christian Mauerer, founder of One with Tea · Updated September 2026
Tea has a documented history roughly four thousand seven hundred years long, and almost all of it is scattered. This gathers 486 dated entries in one place, from the legend of Shen Nung to the trade agreements of the 1930s.
Every entry comes from one source, All About Tea by William H. Ukers, published in 1935 and still the reference work the tea trade quotes. Each carries the printed page it came from, written Ukers II:504, so anyone holding a copy can check the line rather than take our word for it.
What is here: 9 origins, 12 tang & song, 12 ming & first contact, 118 company trade, 226 empire & industry, 109 modern trade.
Where it stops: 1934. Ukers went to press in 1935, so the last ninety years are missing. We would rather show you a complete, checkable record that ends where the source ends than pad it with entries held to a lower standard.
Related: the vocabulary is defined in the Tea Lexicon, and what matcha costs today is tracked in the Matcha Market Index. For the practice these dates circle around, see the Japanese tea ceremony, and for where the leaf came from, Uji.
Origins (9 entries)
From legend to the first reliable record: Shen Nung's discovery is tradition, but by about AD 350 Kuo P'o describes the tea tree, and around 593 knowledge of tea reaches Japan with Buddhism. Jump to the first entry. Related: why the world says cha or tea.
Tang & Song (12 entries)
Tea gets its own written character (c. 725) and its first book, Lu Yu's Ch'a Ching (c. 780). Seeds reach Japan in 805, and by the late Heian period the first tea gatherings begin there. Jump to the first entry. Related: the history of matcha.
Ming & first contact (12 entries)
China turns to green leaf tea, Europe reads its first reports of the drink, and in Japan Sen no Rikyu shapes the tea ceremony that is still practised today. Jump to the first entry. Related: the Japanese tea ceremony.
Company trade (118 entries)
The Dutch and English East India companies turn tea into a global commodity. Japan's first exports leave Nagasaki in 1750, and in 1773 Boston dumps the Company's tea into the harbor. Jump to the first entry. Related: Uji, where Japanese tea processing was refined.
Empire & industry (226 entries)
Assam's native tea is recognised (1832), plantations spread across India and Ceylon, machinery replaces hand rolling, and Japan's tea trade moves to Shizuoka in 1899. Jump to the first entry. Related: the Shizuoka tea region.
Modern trade (109 entries)
Growers advertise to drinkers directly, Japan campaigns for the US market, and duties and codes reshape the trade up to 1934, the year before Ukers went to press. Jump to the first entry. Related: Japan's tea exports, 1932 against 2025 · our organic Japanese matcha.
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486 entries
Search by year or by what happened, or filter by era. Dates marked c. are approximate in the source; those marked legendary are recorded by Ukers as tradition rather than established fact, and we keep his distinction.
- 2737 B. C. (legendary)Origins
- A Chinese legend credits the discovery of tea to the legendary emperor Shen Nung, about the time of the Biblical Adam.
- A. D. 25–221 (legendary)Origins
- Another Chinese legend says the first tea plants were brought to China from India by Gan Lu, a Buddhist monk, in the Later-Han dynasty.
- A. D. 221–265 (legendary)Origins
- Tea is discovered in the AfterHan Dynasty, according to a fable in Ch‘a Pu, written in the Ming Dynasty.
- c. A. D. 350Origins
- Kuo P‘o publishes the earliest reliable description of the tea tree and manner of making the beverage.
- 386–535Origins
- In the Later-Wei Dynasty, people of the border district between Szechwan and Hupeh make the leaves of the tea plant into cakes, which they bake and pound into powder for infusing.
- 475 (legendary)Origins
- Turks arrive on the Mongolian border of China, where they barter for tea, etc.
- 500Origins
- Tea is more generally used in China; principally as a medicine.
- 589Origins
- Tea is first used as a social beverage at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty.
- c. 593Origins
- The first knowledge of tea reaches Japan with the introduction of Chinese culture and Buddhism.
- c. 725Tang & Song
- Tea is given a distinctive ideograph, ch'a, for the first time, in the herbal of Su Kung-t‘ang.
- c. 780Tang & Song
- Lu Yu publishes Ch'a Ching, the first tea book.
- 780Tang & Song
- A tax on tea is levied in the first year of the Chinese emperor Tih Tsung.
- 805Tang & Song
- The first tea seeds are brought to Japan from China by the Buddhist saint, Dengyo Daishi.
- 815Tang & Song
- The Japanese Emperor Saga orders tea cultivated in five provinces near the capital.
- c. 850Tang & Song
- The first report of tea published outside of China is the Account of Tea by Two Arabian Travelers, written in Arabic by Soliman.
- 907–923Tang & Song
- During the After-Leang Dynasty the use of tea in China spreads to the lower classes.
- 951Tang & Song
- The tea beverage is used to combat the plague in Japan.
- 960Tang & Song
- Brick tea in gold boxes is sent as tribute to the Chinese emperor.
- c. 1159Tang & Song
- The Tea Ceremony starts in Japan at the close of the Heinan period.
- 1191Tang & Song
- The Buddhist abbot Yeisai reintroduces tea cultivation in Japan, and publishes the first Japanese book on tea.
- 1200Tang & Song
- Another Buddhist abbot, Myo-e, plants tea near Kyoto and at Uji.
- 1368–1628Ming & first contact
- The process of green tea manufacture is invented in China during the Ming dynasty.
- 1473Ming & first contact
- The retired Japanese shogun Yoshimasa becomes the patron of the Tea Ceremony and of Shuko, its first high priest.
- 1559Ming & first contact
- Giambatista Ramusio, Venice, publishes the first notice of tea in Europe.
- c. 1560Ming & first contact
- Father Gaspar da Cruz, a Portuguese Jesuit, publishes an account of the tea drink of the Chinese.
- 1567Ming & first contact
- The first news of the tea plant is brought to Russia by Ivan Petroff and Boornash Yalysheff.
- c. 1575Ming & first contact
- Jo-o, high priest of the Tea Ceremony, in Japan, teaches its principles to the dictator Nobunaga.
- c. 1582Ming & first contact
- The high priest Sen-no Rikyu brings the Tea Ceremony within the reach of the Japanese middle classes.
- 1588Ming & first contact
- Father Giovanni Maffei, Rome, describes tea in his latin work, Historica Indica, and includes a notice by Father Almeida.
- 1588Ming & first contact
- Hideyoshi, military dictator of Japan, holds a grand tea reunion under the pines of Kitano.
- 1589Ming & first contact
- Giovanni Botero, Venice, includes a notice of tea in his work On the Causes of Greatness in Cities.
- 1597Ming & first contact
- A botanical notice of the tea plant is included in Johann Bauhin’s Plantarum.
- 1598Ming & first contact
- The first notice of tea in English appears in the Voyages and Travels, of Jan Hugo van Linschooten, translated from the Latin, originally published in Holland, 1595-96.
- 1606-07Company trade
- Tea is transported from Macao, China, to Java by the Dutch.
- c. 1610Company trade
- Dutch merchants begin the importation of tea into Europe.
- 1611Company trade
- The Dutch East India Company is granted the privilege of trading on the island of Hirado, off the coast of Japan, and subsequently the English East India Company establish an agent there.
- 1615Company trade
- A letter from Mr. R. L. Wickham, agent for the English East India Company at Hirado, contains the first reference to tea by an Englishman.
- 1618Company trade
- A Chinese embassy carries a gift of tea to the czar of Russia.
- 1623Company trade
- Tea is mentioned in the Theatri Botanici, by Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss naturalist.
- 1623Company trade
- The ceremonial “Tea Journey” is inaugurated by shogun Iyemitsu, to bring the Imperial tea from Uji, Japan, to Yeddo.
- 1635Company trade
- Simon Paulli, a German physician, writes an attack on the immoderate use of tea and tobacco.
- 1637Company trade
- Tea begins to come into use by the people in Holland, and the Dutch East India Company orders "some jars of Chinese as well as Japanese tea with every ship.”
- 1638Company trade
- Adam Olearius and Albert von Mandelslo write accounts of a German embassy to Persia, in which they state that tea drinking is common in Persia and at Surat, India.
- 1638Company trade
- Vassily Starkoff, Russian ambassador at the Court of the mogul Khan Altyn, declines a gift of tea for the czar, Michael Romanov, as something for which he would have no use.
- c. 1640Company trade
- Tea becomes the fashionable beverage of society at The Hague.
- 1641Company trade
- Dr. Nicolas Dirx [“Nicolas Tulp”], noted Dutch M. D., eulogizes tea in his Observationes Medicce.
- 1642Company trade
- Dr. Jacob Bontius, a Dutch naturalist, describes tea in Historia N aturalis.
- 1648Company trade
- The learned doctor, Guy Patin, Paris, writes of tea as, “the newest impertinence of the century,” and says that a thesis favorable to tea by a young doctor Morriset had met with violent condemnation from the profession.
- c. 1650Company trade
- Tea occasionally is used in England, at a cost ranging from £6 to £10 the pound weight.
- c. 1650Company trade
- Tea is introduced by the Dutch in New Amsterdam, later known as New York City.
- 1651Company trade
- Eleven ships of the Dutch East India Company bring a total of thirty pounds of Japan tea to Holland this year.
- 1655Company trade
- Johann Nieuhoff records the use of milk in tea at a banquet tendered to a Dutch embassy in Canton.
- 1657Company trade
- Dr. Jonquet indicates a change of attitude toward tea on the part of the French medical profession by describing it as “the Divine herb,” and comparing it to nectar and ambrosia.
- 1657Company trade
- Tea is first sold publicly in England at Garway’s Coffee House, London.
- 1658Company trade
- The first advertisement of tea in a newspaper appears in Mercurius Politicus, London, September 30, announcing that the tea drink is sold at the Sultaness Head Coffeehouse.
- 1659Company trade
- Mercurius Politicus, London, November 14, records that tea, coffee, and chocolate are sold “almost in every street.”
- 1660Company trade
- The first English tea law places a tax of 8 d. on every gallon of tea, chocolate, and sherbet sold.
- 1660Company trade
- Samuel Pepys, English diarist, London, records his first cup of tea.
- 1660Company trade
- Thomas Garway, London, publishes the “Vertues” of tea in his famous broadsheet.
- c. 1661Company trade
- The abbot Ingen, in the prefecture of Uji, Japan, invents a process of pan-parching called “Ingen tea.”
- 1662Company trade
- The first eulogy of tea in English verse is written by the poet Waller.
- 1664Company trade
- The English East India Company presents 2 lbs. 2 oz. of tea to His Majesty, Charles II.
- 1666Company trade
- Lords Arlington and Ossory give a fashionable impetus to tea drinking at the English Court by gifts of the leaf, brought by them from The Hague.
- 1666Company trade
- Abb6 Raynal, Paris, records that tea sells in London at nearly 70 livres, or about £2 15s. 5d. the pound.
- 1667Company trade
- The English East India Company sends its agent at Bantam, Java, an order for “100 lb. waight of the best Tey.”
- 1668Company trade
- The Duchess of Monmouth sends a gift of tea to relatives in Scotland who boil the leaves and try to eat them.
- 1669Company trade
- The English East India Company makes its first direct importation of tea, consisting of 143 V 2 lbs. from Bantam.
- 1669Company trade
- Tea importations from Holland are prohibited by English law.
- 1671Company trade
- Philippe Sylvestre Dufour publishes at Lyons the first European work devoted exclusively to coffee, tea, and chocolate.
- 1672Company trade
- Mihei Kamibayashi, of Yamashiro Province, is the first to use a tea drier in Japan.
- 1672Company trade
- Simon de Molinaris, Genoa, publishes Asian Ambrosia, or the Virtues and, Use of the Herb lea.
- 1678Company trade
- The English East India Company imports 4717 lbs. of tea from Bantam, glutting the London market.
- 1678Company trade
- Jacobus Breynius, the German botanist, describes the tea plant in Exoticarum, Plantarum.
- 1678Company trade
- In England, Mr. Henry Sayville complains to his uncle, Mr. Secretary Coventry, of friends “who call for tea instead of pipes and a bottle.”
- 1679Company trade
- Dr. Cornelis Bontekoe, Dutch physician, publishes a commendatory tract on tea.
- 1680Company trade
- The Duchess of York introduces the custom of serving tea in Scotland.
- 1680Company trade
- Tea is advertised in the London Gazette at 30 shillings a pound. In the American colonies it is selling at $5 to $6 a pound for the cheapest qualities.
- 1680Company trade
- Madame de la Sabli^re, wife of the French poet, introduces into France the custom of adding milk to tea.
- 1681Company trade
- The English East India Company gives a standing order to its agent in Bantam for “tea to the value of one thousand dollars annually.”
- 1684Company trade
- The Dutch drive the English out of Java, where they have been obtaining their teas.
- 1684Company trade
- Dr. Andreas Cleyer introduces the first tea plants into Java from Japan.
- 1684Company trade
- The English East India Company orders its agent at Madras to ship five or six canisters of tea yearly.
- 1689Company trade
- The first direct importation of China tea into England arrives from Amoy.
- 1689Company trade
- Regular importations of tea into Russia follow the signing of the Nerchinsk Treaty.
- 1690Company trade
- Benjamin Harris and Daniel Vernon are licensed to sell tea in Boston.
- 1699Company trade
- John Ovington, English ecclesiastic, publishes in London his Essay upon the Nature and Qualities of lea.
- c. 1700Company trade
- Milk or cream is first used by tea drinkers in the American colonies.
- c. 1700Company trade
- Grocers in England begin to take up the sale of tea, previously sold only by apothecaries and coffee-house keepers.
- 1705Company trade
- An Edinburgh goldsmith advertises green tea for sale at sixteen shillings a pound and black at thirty shillings.
- 1710–44Company trade
- The shogun Yoshimune puts an end to the annual “Tea Journey.”
- 1712Company trade
- Zabdiel Boylston, Boston apothecary, advertises “Green and Bohea” and “Green and Ordinary” teas for sale.
- 1712Company trade
- Eusebe Renaudot, French orientalist, publishes at Paris a symposium of accounts of India and China, including a translation of Soliman’s Arabian tale of two Mohammedan travelers who brought the first news of tea to Arabia about A.D. 850.
- 1715Company trade
- Green tea first comes into use in England.
- c. 1717Company trade
- Thomas Twining opens in London the “Golden Lyon,” the first exclusive tea shop in England.
- 1721Company trade
- The importations of tea into England for the first time exceed a million pounds.
- 1721Company trade
- Importations of tea from all parts of Europe into England are prohibited, making the India Company’s monopoly complete.
- 1725Company trade
- England passes its first law against tea adulteration.
- 1727Company trade
- Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer’s History of Japan, containing important references to early tea history, is published posthumously in London.
- 1728Company trade
- An unproductive recommendation is made to the directors of the Dutch East India Company to grow tea in Java.
- 1728Company trade
- Mrs. Mary Delany, English memoirist, writes that Bohea sells in London at prices from twenty to thirty shillings, and green tea from twelve to thirty.
- 1730Company trade
- Thomas Short, a Scotch M.D., publishes A Dissertation on Tea, in which it is related that the Dutch exchanged sage for tea on their second voyage to the East.
- 1730-31Company trade
- The English Parliament passes a second law against tea adulteration.
- 1734Company trade
- A total of 885,567 lbs. of tea are brought to Holland in this year.
- 1735Company trade
- Empress Elizabeth of Russia inaugurates the overland tea trade from China.
- 1738Company trade
- Soichiro Nagatani invents the process for Japan green-tea manufacture.
- 1739Company trade
- Tea for the first time leads in value all other produce brought to Holland from the East Indies.
- 1745Company trade
- The Female Spectator, London, brands tea as “the bane of housewifery.”
- 1748Company trade
- John Wesley exhorts his followers to stop drinking tea.
- 1748Company trade
- The approved custom in New York is to make tea with water from the famous teawater pump.
- 1749Company trade
- London is made a free port for teas in transit to Ireland and America.
- 1750Company trade
- Black tea gradually supersedes green in Holland, where it also replaces coffee to some extent as a breakfast beverage.
- 1750Company trade
- The first Japan tea is exported from Nagasaki, by some Chinese merchants.
- 1753Company trade
- Linnseus, the Swedish botanist, classifies the tea plant under two genera, Thea sinensis and Camellia, in his Species Plantarum.
- 1753Company trade
- The use of tea spreads to the rural districts of England.
- 1756Company trade
- Jonas Hanway, English merchant and philanthropist, writes a philippic against tea.
- 1757Company trade
- Dr. Samuel Johnson answers Hanway’s attack on tea with a broadside of ridicule.
- 1762Company trade
- Linnseus, in a second edition of Species Plantorum, discards the name Thea sinensis for the tea plant, and credits it with two genera, Thea bohea [black] and Thea viridis [green],
- 1763Company trade
- The first growing tea plants seen in Europe are brought to Linnseus, at Upsal, Sweden.
- 1766–67Company trade
- The penalty for tea adulteration in England is increased to include imprisonment.
- 1767Company trade
- The English Parliament passes the Act of Trade and Revenue, imposing duties on tea and other commodities imported by the American colonists. The duties are resisted by the colonists.
- 1770Company trade
- All duties imposed under the Act of Trade and Revenue are repealed except the duty on tea. At this time, practically all teas used by the colonists are bootlegged from Holland.
- 1772Company trade
- Lettsom, the English botanist, classifies tea under two genera, Thea bohea and Thea viridis; the same as Linnseus.
- 1773Company trade
- The English Parliament grants the East India Company permission to ship teas to America, and to appoint agents in the colonies for the purpose of receiving and paying the duty upon such shipments.
- 1773Company trade
- Consignments of the East India Company’s tea are cleared in chartered ships bound for Boston, Newport, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.
- 1773Company trade
- On December 16, certain citizens of Boston disguised as Indians dump the entire Boston consignment of the East India Company’s tea into the harbor.
- 1773Company trade
- On December 26, a tea ship bound for Philadelphia is halted within sight of the city,
- 1773Company trade
- The first of the Charleston tea ships lands its cargo, but without payment of duty; whereupon, the collector seizes the tea and stores it in a damp cellar, where it quickly spoils.
- 1774Company trade
- In April, two tea ships arrive at the port of New York. Eighteen chests of tea in a general cargo aboard the smaller ship are dumped into the harbor. The larger ship, with a full cargo of tea, escapes similar treatment by returning to London.
- 1774Company trade
- In August, a ship bound for Annapolis with general cargo, including some tea, is sent back to England, and in October the “Peggy Stewart” arrives at Annapolis with 2000 lbs. of tea, and is burned at her anchorage.
- 1774Company trade
- On November 1, the “Britannia Ball” arrives at Charleston with eight chests of tea in. her cargo, which the owners of the ship break open publicly and dump in the harbor.
- 1774Company trade
- On December 22, American colonists at Greenwich, N. J., burn a large consignment of tea stored there.
- 1774Company trade
- The first English patent for a tea-making device is granted to one John Wadham.
- 1776Company trade
- The American Revolution results from the attempted enforcement of the tea duty without the consent of the colonies.
- 1777Company trade
- The English Parliament passes another law against tea adulteration.
- 1779Company trade
- An English law compels shopkeepers who sell tea to identify their places by a sign announcing its sale.
- 1780Company trade
- Governor General Mr. Warren Hastings of British India sends to George Bogle in Bhutan, Northeast India, “some seeds of Hyson,” which were brought from China by captains of Indiamen; he gives others to Colonel Robert Kyd, Calcutta, who raises a few ornamental bushes.
- 1782Company trade
- The hong merchants of Canton are reorganized to conduct the foreign tea trade of China.
- 1784Company trade
- As the result of a long climb, the English tea duty reaches 120 per cent ad valorem.
- 1784Company trade
- Richard Twining, of London, becomes the champion of the retail tea trade, and campaigns against the huge quantities of adulterated teas flooding the market.
- 1784Company trade
- Under the ministry of William Pitt, the younger, the English Parliament passes the Commutation Act, reducing the duty on tea to one-tenth of its former amount.
- 1785Company trade
- The “Empress of China” arrives in New York with the first shipment of China tea to reach the United States in an American bottom.
- 1785Company trade
- This year there are 30,000 wholesalers and retailers registered as tea dealers in England.
- 1785-91Company trade
- The average annual tea importation into Holland in this period is 3,500,000 lbs.; representing a fourfold increase in fifty years.
- 1786Company trade
- The first Philadelphia ship to enter the China tea trade, the "Canton”, sails this year.
- 1788Company trade
- The eminent English naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks, calls attention to the tea-growing possibilities of British India.
- 1788Company trade
- The English East India Company discourages the suggestion for starting a tea industry in British India as inimical to its China tea trade.
- 1789Company trade
- The United States Government levies its first tea tax of 15$ a pound on black tea; 22$ on Imperial; and 55$ on Young Hyson.
- 1790Company trade
- The first tea plants grown in the United States are planted by the French botanist Andre Michaux at Middleton, near Charleston, S. C.
- 1791-1800Company trade
- For the ten-year period at the close of the eighteenth century, the English East
- 1793Company trade
- Scientists with Lord Macartney’s embassy to China send seeds of the tea plant to Calcutta.
- 1798Company trade
- The Dutch East India Company is dissolved by the Government, which assumes debts of more than fifty million dollars.
- 1805Empire & industry
- Cordiner claims the tea plant is growing wild in Ceylon, but this is denied by later writers.
- c. 1810Empire & industry
- Chinese from Amoy introduce tea cultivation in Formosa.
- 1810Empire & industry
- An unsuccessful attempt is made to grow tea in Brazil.
- 1813Empire & industry
- Parliament ends the English East India Company’s monopoly of the India trade, but continues its monopoly of the China trade for another twenty years.
- 1814Empire & industry
- War time profiteering induces Philadelphians to form a non-consumption association, whose members are pledged to pay no more than 25 <t a pound for coffee and to use no future importations of tea.
- 1815Empire & industry
- Col. Latter calls attention to a wild tea used by aboriginal tribesmen in Upper Assam.
- 1815Empire & industry
- Dr. Govan recommends the introduction of tea cultivation into the northwestern part of Bengal.
- 1815Empire & industry
- The Napoleonic War, ending this year, sends the English tea duty to 96 per cent ad valorem.
- 1823Empire & industry
- Major Robert Bruce discovers indigenous tea in Assam.
- 1824Empire & industry
- Dr. Philipp Franz von Siebold, naturalist with the Dutch embassy in Japan, is instructed to secure seeds of the tea plant and send them to Java.
- 1825Empire & industry
- The London Society of Fine Arts offers a gold medal for the first tea grown and prepared in British territory.
- 1825Empire & industry
- Captain David Scott, agent of the Government in Assam, sends Manipur tea leaves to Calcutta, but their identification as genuine tea is not established.
- 1826Empire & industry
- Tea seeds obtained by Dr. von Siebold in Japan are planted in Java.
- 1826Empire & industry
- John Horniman, founder of Hornimans’, London, places the first packet tea on the market.
- 1827Empire & industry
- Dr. F. Corbyn finds indigenous tea growing in Sandoway, Arakan, Lower Burma.
- 1827Empire & industry
- Fifteen hundred tea plants, raised from Japan tea seeds, are planted out in the Government gardens at Buitenzorg and Garoet, Java.
- 1827Empire & industry
- J. I. L. L. Jacobson is commissioned by the Government of Java to secure information on tea cultivation and manufacture in China.
- 1827Empire & industry
- The scientist and author, Dr. J. F. Royle, urges the introduction of tea culture into the northwest district of the Himalaya range, British India.
- 1828Empire & industry
- The first manufactured sample of Java tea is prepared at Buitenzorg, and an experimental cultivation is begun at Wanajasa, province of Krawang.
- 1828-29Empire & industry
- On a second trip to China, Jacobson brings eleven tea shrubs to Java.
- 1830Empire & industry
- The first tea factory in Java, a small one, is built at Wanajasa.
- 1830Empire & industry
- The annual consumption of tea in England is thirty million pounds; that of the balance of the civilized world is twenty-two million.
- 1831Empire & industry
- Captain A. Charlton sends Assam-indigen-
- 1832Empire & industry
- Tea is planted experimentally in the Nilgiris Hills of Southern India by Dr. Christie of the Government Establishment at Madras.
- 1832Empire & industry
- C. A. Bruce calls the attention of the Government commissioner, Captain Francis Jenkins, to the indigenous tea of Assam.
- 1832Empire & industry
- Isaac McKim, Baltimore merchant, builds the Ann McKim, the first sizable clipper ship for the China tea trade.
- 1832Empire & industry
- There are 101,687 licensed dealers in tea in the United Kingdom. They pay 11*. annually.
- 1833Empire & industry
- Jacobson returns from China to Java on his sixth and last trip, bringing seven million tea seeds, fifteen workmen, and a mass of implements.
- 1833Empire & industry
- In recognition of his ability and past services, J. I. L. L. Jacobson is appointed manager of the government tea enterprises in Java.
- 1833Empire & industry
- The English Parliament abolishes the East India Company’s monopoly of the China tea trade.
- 1834Empire & industry
- Governor General Lord William Charles Cavendish Bentinck appoints a tea committee to formulate a plan for the introduction of tea culture into British India.
- 1834Empire & industry
- The Indian tea committee dispatches its secretary, George James Gordon, to China for tea seeds, Chinese workmen, and information on the cultivation and manufacture of tea.
- 1834Empire & industry
- The first United States patent for a teapot is granted to W. W. Crossman.
- 1834Empire & industry
- The first tea sale in Mincing Lane is held upon the termination of the East India Company’s monopoly.
- 1834Empire & industry
- Captain A. Charlton again sends specimens of Assam tea plants to Calcutta; this time with the fruit, blossoms, and dried leaf for infusing. The result is their identification as genuine indigenous tea.
- 1835Empire & industry
- The first consignment of Java tea reaches the Amsterdam market.
- 1835Empire & industry
- Due to the recognition of the indigenous tea of India, Mr. Gordon is recalled from China, and returns after having sent three shipments of seeds to Calcutta.
- 1835Empire & industry
- As a further result of the discovery of indigenous tea in India, the Governor General appoints a scientific commission to report thereon, and to recommend the most promising locations for experimental tea gardens.
- 1835Empire & industry
- Toku-o, a Japanese tea merchant, invents the process for making Gyokuro tea.
- 1835-36Empire & industry
- The scientific commission in India, by a vote of two against one, favors the introduction of the cultivated tea plant of China; and by a similar vote recommends Upper Assam in preference to the Himalayas as the most promising location for tea gardens.
- 1835-36Empire & industry
- Forty-two thousand tea plants are raised from China tea seeds at Calcutta, and are forwarded to Upper Assam, Kumaon, Sirmore, and Southern India.
- 1835-36Empire & industry
- C. A. Bruce is appointed superintendent of tea culture in Assam. He starts a tea garden at Saikhwa, near Sadiya.
- 1835-36Empire & industry
- Dr. Hugh Falconer becomes superintendent of tea culture in Kumaon and plants two unsuccessful gardens at Bhurtpur and Bhemtal; later, he plants successful gardens in Kumaon, Sirmore, and Garhwal.
- 1835-36Empire & industry
- Two thousand China tea plants are shipped from Calcutta to Southern India, but none survive.
- 1836Empire & industry
- In addition to experimental plantings of China tea, C. A. Bruce starts a nursery devoted solely to indigenous tea, at Sadiya.
- 1836Empire & industry
- Three Chinese black-tea manufacturers are sent to Mr. Bruce in Assam. Upon their arrival, he has them make up a small manufactured sample of indigenous tea from the Matak country, which he sends to Calcutta.
- 1836Empire & industry
- Later in the year, Mr. Bruce sends a second sample, five boxes, of Assam tea to Calcutta.
- 1838Empire & industry
- The first export shipment of Assam tea, eight chests, is sent to London.
- 1839Empire & industry
- The first importation, eight chests, of Assam tea is received and sold at India House in London, with the East India Company as vendor.
- 1839Empire & industry
- The first tea seeds, Assam indigenous, are sent to Ceylon from Calcutta.
- 1839Empire & industry
- The Assam Company, India’s pioneer teaplanting company, is formed, with a double board of directors; one in London and one in Calcutta.
- 1840Empire & industry
- The Assam Company takes over two-thirds of the government tea gardens in Northeastern India.
- 1840Empire & industry
- A second shipment, 95 packages, of India tea arrives and is sold in London.
- 1840Empire & industry
- The first tea is planted in the Chittagong district of British India.
- 1840Empire & industry
- Some 205 Assam tea plants are received at the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, from the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta.
- 1841Empire & industry
- Maurice B. Worms returns to Ceylon from a trip to China, bringing tea-plant cuttings, which he plants on Rothschild Estate, Pusselawa. About the same time, a Mr. Llewellyn imports Assam indigenous shrubs from Calcutta and plants them on Penylan Estate, Dolosbage.
- 1841–42Empire & industry
- Garraway’s, in London, is the center of a frenzy of tea speculation.
- 1842Empire & industry
- The Dutch Government in Java begins the surrender of its monopoly of tea culture.
- 1842Empire & industry
- The Treaty of Nanking does away with the co-hong system in China, and opens the ports of Shanghai, Ningpo, Foochow, and Amoy.
- 1842Empire & industry
- The cultivation of tea is started in Dehra Dun, British India.
- 1842Empire & industry
- Fanny Kemble records that she first became acquainted with “afternoon tea” in this year.
- 1842Empire & industry
- The English Society of Arts awards a gold medal to C. A. Bruce for the discovery of tea in Assam, and the Horticultural Society of Bengal presents gold medals to Major Jenkins and Captain Charlton for their part in securing its recognition.
- 1843Empire & industry
- Dr. Hugh Falconer is succeeded by Dr. William Jameson as superintendent of tea cultivation in Kumaon.
- 1843Empire & industry
- Dr. Falconer arrives in London with the first samples of Kumaon tea, made from China jat.
- 1843Empire & industry
- J. I. L. L. Jacobson publishes a handbook for tea planters.
- 1843Empire & industry
- The British Internal Revenue Department prosecutes many cases involving the redrying and sale of used tea leaves.
- 1844Empire & industry
- Tea cultivation is begun experimentally on the island of Mauritius.
- 1845Empire & industry
- The “Rainbow,” first extreme clipper ship, designed by John Willis Griffiths, is put into the China trade by Howland & Aspinwall of New York.
- 1847Empire & industry
- The first tea is planted in Russian Transcaucasia.
- 1847Empire & industry
- Facing financial disaster, the Assam Company entrusts the management of its affairs to Stephen Mornay, in Assam, and Henry Burkinyoung, in Calcutta.
- 1848Empire & industry
- The East India Company’s Government of India sends Robert Fortune to China for tea plants, expert workmen, and tools.
- 1848Empire & industry
- Dr. Junius Smith, Greenville, S. C., makes the first attempt to grow tea commercially in the United States.
- 1850Empire & industry
- Tea is planted experimentally at the Durban Botanical Gardens, in Natal.
- 1850Empire & industry
- The “Oriental” is the first American clipper ship to carry a cargo of tea from China to London.
- 1850Empire & industry
- “Stag Hound,” first of the famous clipper ships built by Donald McKay, is launched.
- c. 1850Empire & industry
- An attempt is made to grow tea in Australia.
- 1850Empire & industry
- Robert Fortune sends 20,000 China tea plants from China to Calcutta, and 12,838 survive the trip.
- 1851Empire & industry
- Robert Fortune returns to Calcutta from China with additional tea plants, tools, and workmen.
- 1851Empire & industry
- Prosecutions for manufacturing spurious teas continue in London.
- 1851Empire & industry
- The first privately-owned tea garden in Assam is opened by Col. Hannay.
- 1852Empire & industry
- The Assam Company earns its first 2% per cent dividend.
- 1852Empire & industry
- The Indian Government now has four tea factories in Northwest Province.
- 1853Empire & industry
- Commodore Perry establishes direct commercial relations between the U. S. A. and Japan, paving the way for future tea trade.
- 1853Empire & industry
- Mme. Kay Oura is the first Japanese tea merchant to send samples abroad.
- 1854Empire & industry
- Dr. Jameson establishes a principal tea nursery at Ayar Toli, near Byznath, district of Kumaon, British India.
- 1854Empire & industry
- The Planters’ Association of Ceylon is organized.
- 1854Empire & industry
- Charles Henry Olivier is granted an English patent on a tea-drying apparatus.
- 1855Empire & industry
- Indigenous tea is discovered in Cachar, British India.
- 1855Empire & industry
- Alfred Savage gets an English patent for a tea cutter, separator, and mixer.
- 1855Empire & industry
- Commercial tea growing shows promise in Formosa.
- 1856Empire & industry
- A British merchant named Ault visits Japan and ships 100 piculs [1333 lbs.] of tea, which he buys from Mme. Oura.
- 1856Empire & industry
- Indian indigenous tea is found throughout the hills between Sylhet and Cachar; also in the hills of Northeast Sylhet.
- 1856Empire & industry
- Tea cultivation starts in Cachar and Darjeeling, British India.
- 1857Empire & industry
- The first tea garden is opened in Sylhet.
- 1858Empire & industry
- The United States Government sends Robert Fortune to China for tea seeds to be planted in the Southern States.
- 1859Empire & industry
- The port of Yokohama, gateway to Japan’s choicest tea-producing districts, is thrown open to foreign trade, and 400,000 lbs. of tea are exported.
- 1860Empire & industry
- The Government of Java definitely abandons its tea monopoly.
- 1860Empire & industry
- England passes a general Act against food adulteration.
- 1861Empire & industry
- First Russian brick-tea factory is built at Hankow.
- 1861-65Empire & industry
- Tea is taxed 25c a pound over the period of the Civil War in the United States.
- 1862Empire & industry
- The first tea refiring godown is established in Yokohama.
- 1862Empire & industry
- Chinese operatives introduce artificial teacoloring in Japan.
- 1862Empire & industry
- First Terai tea garden is opened in British India.
- 1862- 65Empire & industry
- An era of progress in Java tea culture is begun as former Government tea estates are leased to pioneer individual planters.
- 1863Empire & industry
- The bark “Benefactor” brings the first cargo of tea direct from Japan to New York.
- 1863Empire & industry
- The ships “Jacob Bell” and “Oneida,” with tea from Shanghai to New York valued at $2,500,000, are captured by the Confederate steam raider “Florida.”
- 1863- 66Empire & industry
- A boom in tea lands of British India and period of wild speculation bring a succeeding period of collapse.
- 1864Empire & industry
- David Baird Lindsay of Rajawela, Dumbara, Ceylon, imports and plants some Assam tea seeds.
- 1866Empire & industry
- A sensational race of eleven tea clippers from Foochow to London is won by “Ariel” in ninety-nine days.
- 1866Empire & industry
- Arthur Morice is sent by the Government of Ceylon to visit and report on the tea districts of Assam.
- 1866Empire & industry
- William Martin Leake orders for his firm, Kier, Dundas & Co., the first Assam-hybrid tea seed imported into Ceylon.
- 1867Empire & industry
- Under the supervision of James Taylor, twenty acres on Loolecondera Estate, near Kandy, Ceylon, is cleared and planted with tea.
- 1867Empire & industry
- The commercial export of Formosa Oolong begins this year with trial shipments to Amoy by Dodd & Co. and a Chinese buyer for Tait & Co.
- 1868Empire & industry
- Tea cultivation begins in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
- 1868Empire & industry
- A number of foreign tea firms establish offices and godowns in Kobe, Japan.
- 1868Empire & industry
- Dodd & Co. establish the first retiring plant in Formosa, and import expert workmen from Foochow and Amoy.
- 1868Empire & industry
- An acre of tea is planted experimentally at the Government Station on the island of Jamaica.
- 1869Empire & industry
- The opening of the Suez Canal changes and shortens commercial tea routes from the East.
- 1870Empire & industry
- A. Holle, at Parakan Salak, is first to roll tea mechanically in Java.
- 1870Empire & industry
- The Agricultural Law of Java fixes seventy-five years as the term of land leases. This stimulates tea planting.
- c. 1870Empire & industry
- Brick-tea manufacture at Foochow starts.
- 1872Empire & industry
- The first tea-refiring plant in Kobe is established this year.
- 1872Empire & industry
- James Taylor sells in Kandy, Ceylon, the first tea made on Loolecondera.
- 1872Empire & industry
- John Bartlett, Bristol, England, patents a tea mixer; thereby starting the business of Bartlett & Sons, Ltd.
- 1872Empire & industry
- William Jackson, pioneer inventor of tea machinery in India, sets up his first mechanical tea roller at Jorhat.
- 1873Empire & industry
- The first export shipment of Ceylon tea, 23 lbs., is sent to London.
- 1874Empire & industry
- Lt. Col. Edward Money, British India, invents a tea drier.
- 1874- 75Empire & industry
- Tea planting starts in the Dooars, British India.
- 1875Empire & industry
- Passage of the English Food and Drug Act stops the importation of bad teas.
- 1875- 76Empire & industry
- Tea cultivation makes notable progress in Ceylon, following the destruction of the coffee plantations by Hemileia vastatrix.
- 1876Empire & industry
- Two young natives of Sylhet start the first Indian-owned tea estate in British India.
- 1876Empire & industry
- A public refiring factory is built in Tokyo, and private refiring godowns are established in Numazu, Sayama, and Muramatsu.
- 1876Empire & industry
- The administrator of Tjisalak installs the first Jackson tea roller in Java.
- 1876Empire & industry
- The process for making Japan basket-fired tea is discovered by Tamasaburo Akahori and Yesuke Kando.
- 1876Empire & industry
- Japan teas are displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.
- 1876Empire & industry
- An unsuccessful attempt is made to form an Indian Tea Association in Calcutta.
- 1877Empire & industry
- Commercial tea planting is begun in Natal.
- 1877Empire & industry
- Samuel C. Davidson invents his first “Sirocco” tea drier.
- 1877Empire & industry
- Java tea planters send samples of their teas to London tea brokers for criticism and advice.
- 1878Empire & industry
- Jonathan Duncan makes the earliest attempt to introduce tea and coffee plants into Nyasaland.
- 1878Empire & industry
- Assam tea seeds and better methods are introduced on Java tea plantations.
- 1878Empire & industry
- Hydraulic pressure is introduced into the manufacture of brick tea at Hankow.
- 1879Empire & industry
- The first competitive exhibition devoted exclusively to tea is opened in Yokohama with 84S exhibitors.
- 1879Empire & industry
- The No. 1 Up-Draft “Sirocco” tea drier, the first of the up-draft type, is placed on the market.
- 1879Empire & industry
- The Indian Tea Districts Association is formed in London.
- 1880Empire & industry
- The first tea-rolling machine manufactured in Ceylon is put out by John Walker & Co.
- 1880Empire & industry
- Captain David Robbie plants tea on the island of Vanua Levu in the Fiji group.
- 1880Empire & industry
- The first Natal tea, 30 lbs., is marketed in London.
- 1881Empire & industry
- S. C. Davidson founds the Sirocco Engineering Works at Belfast.
- 1881Empire & industry
- Congress appropriates funds for promoting tea cultivation in the Southern States of the U. S. A.
- 1881Empire & industry
- The Indian Tea Association is formed in Calcutta.
- 1881Empire & industry
- Japanese black-tea manufacturers amalgamate into a single concern known as the Yokohama Black Tea Company.
- 1881Empire & industry
- The Soekaboemi Agricultural Association is formed in Java.
- 1882Empire & industry
- The first tea-drying machine in Ceylon is erected on Windsor Forest Plantation, Dolosbage.
- 1882Empire & industry
- A shop for the sale of India and Ceylon teas is opened in Paris.
- 1882-83Empire & industry
- William Cameron improves the system of pruning tea bushes in Ceylon.
- 1883Empire & industry
- The first Colombo tea auction is held in the office of Somerville & Co.
- 1883Empire & industry
- The first United States Tea Law, intended to prevent the importation of adulterated and spurious teas, is passed by Congress.
- 1883Empire & industry
- The second competitive exposition limited exclusively to tea is held at Kobe, Japan, with 2752 exhibitors.
- 1883Empire & industry
- The Japan Central Tea Traders’ Association is formed.
- 1884Empire & industry
- William Jackson produces his first mechanical tea drier.
- 1884Empire & industry
- Col. A. Solovtzoff plants approximately 5% acres of tea plants at Chakva in Russian Transcaucasia.
- 1885Empire & industry
- Kenzo Takabayashi patents two tea rollers, the first machines for aiding in the manufacture of Japan green teas.
- 1886Empire & industry
- Two Java tea planters visit India and Ceylon to observe modern methods of cultivation and manufacture. One of them, G. Mundt, publishes his observations.
- 1886Empire & industry
- The China tea trade is at its peak.
- 1886Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Tea Syndicate Fund is initiated by H. K. Rutherford, and 67,000 lbs. of tea are distributed abroad.
- 1886Empire & industry
- The Japan Central Tea Traders’ Association sends Magoichiro Yokoyama to investigate the Russian market.
- 1886Empire & industry
- The Japan Central Tea Traders’ Association sends Kijo Hirao to investigate tea-production methods in China, Ceylon, and India.
- 1886Empire & industry
- A second consignment of Natal tea, 500 lbs., reaches London.
- 1887Empire & industry
- William Jackson introduces his first roll- ' breaker.
- 1887Empire & industry
- The first tea shrubs are planted in Nyasaland.
- 1888Empire & industry
- William Jackson brings out his first teasorting machine.
- 1888Empire & industry
- The Japan Central Tea Association investigates foreign markets.
- 1888Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Tea Fund, a voluntary cess for propaganda purposes, is started.
- 1888Empire & industry
- Certain American firms are granted a supply of Ceylon tea for distribution as samples.
- 1888Empire & industry
- The London Tea Clearing House is estabtablished.
- 1888Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Association in London is organized.
- 1889Empire & industry
- The policy of granting Ceylon tea for free distribution is extended to South Ireland, Russia, Vienna, and Constantinople.
- 1889Empire & industry
- Ornamental boxes of Ceylon tea are presented to the Duke and Duchess of Fyfe, beginning a policy of similar presentations to royalties and notables.
- c. 1890Empire & industry
- The first tea estate in Sumatra is started at Deli, but is a failure.
- c. 1890Empire & industry
- Dr. Charles U. Shepard plants a tea garden and builds a tea factory at Somerville, South Carolina, U. S. A.
- 1890Empire & industry
- Propaganda for Ceylon tea is begun in Russia, with Maurice Rogivue as commissioner.
- 1890Empire & industry
- Assam tea seeds are planted in Minas Geraes, Brazil.
- 1890Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Tea Fund Committee subsidizes and grants sample tea to firms in Tasmania, Sweden, Germany, Canada, and Russia.
- 1891Empire & industry
- Charles Bartlett patents the first teablending machine with an axial discharge.
- 1891Empire & industry
- A record price for tea at the London auction is established when a fine parcel of Ceylon tea sells for £25 10s. the pound.
- 1891Empire & industry
- The manufacture of tablet teas in Kiukiang is begun.
- 1892-1901Empire & industry
- Russian firms develop brick-tea manufacture at Kiukiang.
- 1893Empire & industry
- A Government tea cess of 10 Ceylon cents per cwt. on tea exports is begun January 1st in Ceylon.
- 1893Empire & industry
- Intensive propaganda for India and Ceylon teas in the United States is begun at the Chicago World’s Fair. Richard Blechynden is appointed commissioner for India and John J. Grinlinton for Ceylon.
- 1893Empire & industry
- The Japan Central Tea Association opens a large tea pavilion at the Chicago World’s Fair.
- 1893Empire & industry
- C. S. Popoff plants experimental tea fields near Chakva, Russian Transcaucasia, and the
- 1893Empire & industry
- A number of Java tea planters unite in hiring a chemist to make scientific investigations.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Colombo Tea Traders’ Association is organized.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Planters’ Association of Ceylon and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, jointly, vote to pay a yearly subsidy to Thomas J. Lipton and other exporters of Ceylon tea.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Tea Fund Committee extends its activities to Australia, Perak, Hungary, Rumania, Servia, California, and British Columbia.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Indian Tea Districts Association of London merges with the Indian Tea Association of Calcutta, and its name is changed to the “Indian Tea Association (London).”
- 1894Empire & industry
- A vountary tea cess is started in India, to provide funds for propaganda. It is continuous to and including the year 1902.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The first Sumatra tea is shipped to London from Rimboen Estate, Deli.
- 1894Empire & industry
- A committee of thirty, which becomes known as “the Thirty Committee,” is formed to administer the Ceylon tea fund.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Thirty Committee sends two representatives to America to report on the best method of pushing Ceylon teas.
- 1894Empire & industry
- William Mackenzie is appointed Ceylon tea commissioner in America.
- 1894Empire & industry
- The Ceylon tea-cess rate is raised to 20 Ceylon cents per cwt. of tea exported.
- 1895Empire & industry
- The change from Chinese to Japanese suzerainty in Formosa brings important developments in the line of Government aid to the tea industry.
- 1895Empire & industry
- Ceylon tea commissioner Mackenzie reports that the Americans are green-tea drinkers, and urges increased production of green tea in Ceylon.
- 1896Empire & industry
- A propaganda on behalf of Ceylon tea is begun in Europe, and continues to and including the year 1912.
- 1896Empire & industry
- The Ceylon Thirty Committee decides to pay a bounty of 10 Ceylon cents for every pound of green tea exported from the island. Payments continue to and including 1904.
- 1896Empire & industry
- India and Ceylon teas are advertised jointly in the United States.
- 1896Empire & industry
- The first individual tea-bag patent is issued to A. V. Smith of London.
- 1897Empire & industry
- The second United States Tea Law to prevent the importation of impure and unwholesome teas is passed by Congress.
- 1897Empire & industry
- Japan tea manufacturers begin changing to machine production.
- 1897Empire & industry
- In this year the per capita consumption of tea in the United States reaches its highest point, 1.56 lb.
- 1897Empire & industry
- The Russian office of the Ceylon Tea Campaign becomes a limited company to handle Ceylon teas.
- 1897Empire & industry
- Russian brick-tea manufacturers at Kiukiang begin importing tea dust from Ceylon.
- 1898Empire & industry
- The United States imposes a SpanishAmerican war tax of 10c a pound on tea.
- 1898Empire & industry
- The Ceylon tea commissioner is conducting a special green-tea advertising campaign in the United States.
- 1898Empire & industry
- M. Kelway Bamber is engaged as agricultural chemist by the Ceylon Thirty Committee.
- 1898Empire & industry
- Gensaku Harasaki invents a mechanical refiring pan for Japan green tea.
- 1898Empire & industry
- Propaganda for Japan tea is begun in America, and is continuous to and including the year 1906.
- 1898Empire & industry
- Propaganda for Japan tea is begun in Russia and is continuous, except for three years, 1905, 1909, and 1916.
- 1898Empire & industry
- Ceylon-tea advertising grants are extended to Africa.
- 1899Empire & industry
- The Tea Association of New York is incorporated.
- 1899Empire & industry
- A 28-inch rainfall in Darjeeling causes landslides which involve 7 per cent of the tea area.
- 1899Empire & industry
- Ceylon tea is exhibited at the Paris Exposition.
- 1899Empire & industry
- Following the opening of the port of Shimizu, the center of the Japan tea trade shifts from Yokohama and Kobe to the city of Shizuoka.
- 1900Modern trade
- India and Ceylon teas become competitors of China tea in Russia.
- 1900Modern trade
- The bonus paid by the Ceylon Thirty Committee for green-tea exportations is reduced to 7 Ceylon cents a pound.
- 1900Modern trade
- Tea cultivation is begun in Persia [Iran].
- 1900Modern trade
- J. H. Renton becomes Ceylon tea commissioner in Europe.
- c. 1900Modern trade
- French Indo-China begins to export tea.
- c. 1900Modern trade
- Boenga-Meloer has the first withering loft in Java.
- c. 1900Modern trade
- Overproduction stops tea planting in Ceylon and India.
- 1900Modern trade
- The Tocklai Tea Experimental Station of the Indian Tea Association starts with one agricultural chemist.
- 1901Modern trade
- Japan and Formosa exhibit teas at the Paris Exposition.
- 1901Modern trade
- The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal is founded in New York.
- 1901Modern trade
- A tea-planting venture, which subsequently failed, is in process of development in Colleton County, South Carolina.
- 1901Modern trade
- The Tea Duty Repeal Association, formed in New York, urges removal of the SpanishAmerican War duty on tea.
- c. 1902Modern trade
- Commercial tea planting begins in Nyasaland.
- 1902Modern trade
- A few estates in British India revive the manufacture of green tea, chiefly for the American market.
- 1902Modern trade
- A campaign for Ceylon tea is begun in Afghanistan.
- 1902Modern trade
- Ceylon raises the cess rate to 30 Ceylon cents per cwt. on tea exports.
- 1902Modern trade
- The Proefstation voor Thee is established at Buitenzorg, Java.
- 1903Modern trade
- A cess of pie per pound of tea exported is started by the Government of British India to promote the sale and consumption of India tea in India and elsewhere.
- 1903- 04Modern trade
- A propaganda for British-Indian tea is begun in the United States, and is continuous to and including the fiscal year 1917, 18.
- 1903Modern trade
- The U. S. Congress repeals the duty on tea.
- 1903Modern trade
- The National Tea Association of the U. S. A. is organized in New York.
- 1903Modern trade
- The Natal tea industry reaches a peak production of 2,681,000 lbs., in this year.
- 1904Modern trade
- Ceylon, India, and Japan teas are exhibited at the St. Louis Exposition.
- 1904Modern trade
- Ceylon investigates the possibility of producing Oolong tea.
- 1904–05Modern trade
- A propaganda for India tea is begun in the United Kingdom.
- 1905Modern trade
- Japan tea propaganda, this year, includes distribution of samples in Australia, newspaper advertising in France, and an exhibit at the Belgian Exposition.
- 1905Modern trade
- Java planters establish the Tea Expert Bureau.
- 1905Modern trade
- A commission of Chinese tea experts studies methods of tea production in India and Ceylon.
- 1905Modern trade
- The Anti-Tea-Duty Association is formed in London.
- 1905-06Modern trade
- India-tea propaganda is begun in Europe.
- 1906Modern trade
- The San Francisco Fire wipes out nearly all the tea establishments in the city.
- 1906Modern trade
- W. A. Courtney succeeds William Mackenzie as Ceylon tea commissioner in the United States.
- c. 1907Modern trade
- Tea planting in Ceylon and India, stopped by overproduction in 1900, is resumed.
- 1907Modern trade
- Japan tea propaganda in the United States and Canada is discontinued.
- 1907Modern trade
- The China Tea Association is formed in London.
- 1908Modern trade
- The Ceylon tea cess terminates, and Mr. Courtney ceases to act as Ceylon tea commissioner in America.
- 1909Modern trade
- A “Fine Tea” campaign begins in the United Kingdom.
- 1909-10Modern trade
- H. Lambe, of the Tea Expert Bureau, Batavia, conducts a propaganda for Java tea in Australia.
- 1910Modern trade
- Tea planting on a large scale begins in Sumatra.
- 1910Modern trade
- The Japanese Government of Formosa subsidizes a company organized to manufacture black tea.
- 1910Modern trade
- Tea is planted in Uganda, British East Africa.
- 1911Modern trade
- Iwao Nishi is appointed commissioner to revive Japan tea advertising in America.
- 1911Modern trade
- Artificially-colored tea is barred from the United States.
- 1911–12Modern trade
- An India tea propaganda is conducted in South America.
- 1912Modern trade
- The Tea Association of New York becomes the Tea Association of The United States of America.
- 1912Modern trade
- Japan tea propaganda is resumed in America.
- 1914Modern trade
- Cargoes sunk by the German raider “Emden” include 12 million pounds of tea.
- 1914- 18Modern trade
- During the war years people of Germany have great difficulty in getting tea.
- 1915Modern trade
- Dr. Charles U. Shepard dies, and the tea gardens at Somerville, South Carolina, fall into neglect.
- 1915Modern trade
- The World War brings a great revival of the tea trade in China, due to purchases of black leaf for the Russian army.
- 1915Modern trade
- Sampei Uchida patents the first tea-plucking shears in Japan.
- 1915- 16Modern trade
- Propaganda for India tea is begun in British India, and is continuous hereafter.
- 1917Modern trade
- H. J. Edwards, of the Tea Expert Bureau, Batavia, visits the United States to promote a market for Java teas.
- 1917Modern trade
- The British Government establishes the war-time Tea Control, to regulate the handling of tea.
- 1917Modern trade
- The Russian tea trade collapses after the Revolution.
- 1918Modern trade
- Russian tea factories at Hankow are idle and many Chinese tea firms go into liquidation.
- 1918Modern trade
- The Japanese Government of Formosa in-
- 1919Modern trade
- The British war-time Tea Control is removed.
- 1919Modern trade
- The British Preferential Tariff, giving 2 d. a pound preference to British-grown teas, goes into effect.
- 1919Modern trade
- An advance of 100 per cent in the duty checks tea consumption in Germany.
- 1919Modern trade
- The Tea Association of the U. S. A. takes steps to interest growers, shippers, merchants, and brokers in a national campaign of tea advertising.
- 1920Modern trade
- The U. S. Board of Tea Appeals is created by an amendment to the Tea Law.
- 1920Modern trade
- The second severe crisis of overproduction in the present century brings an agreement between British tea planters for restriction of production this year.
- 1921Modern trade
- German tea imports once more reach their pre-war level.
- 1921Modern trade
- A policy of finer plucking is adopted by tea planters of India and Ceylon, to reduce production.
- 1921Modern trade
- The Indian tea-cess rate is raised from % pie per pound to 4 annas per 100 pounds.
- 1922Modern trade
- Iwao Nishi resigns as Japan tea commissioner in the United States.
- 1922Modern trade
- The Formosan Government begins a newspaper advertising campaign for Formosa tea in the United States.
- 1922Modern trade
- Restriction of tea output continues in India and Ceylon.
- 1922-23Modern trade
- A trade propaganda for Java tea begins in America.
- 1922–23Modern trade
- Tndia-tea propaganda is resumed in the United States and the countries of Europe.
- 1923Modern trade
- Government tea inspection is established in Formosa.
- 1923Modern trade
- The Japanese Earthquake destroys approximately three million pounds of tea in store at Tokyo and Yokohama.
- 1923Modern trade
- Harold W. Newby, Indian Tea Cess commissioner, visits the United States, to ascertain the possibilities for increasing the consumption of India tea.
- 1923Modern trade
- The Indian Tea Cess Committee decides to spend $200,000 a year for advertising India tea in the United States, and Sir Charles Higham is appointed advertising director.
- 1923Modern trade
- The Indian tea-cess rate is raised to 6 annas per cwt. of tea exported.
- 1924Modern trade
- Nyasaland passes the million mark in tea shipments, with shipments for the year of 1,058,504 lbs.
- 1924Modern trade
- A Tea Congress is held at Bandoeng, Java.
- 1924Modern trade
- Japanese chemists announce the discovery of vitamin-C in the green teas of Japan.
- 1925Modern trade
- The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics reorganizes tea buying as a Government monopoly in Russia.
- 1925Modern trade
- Brooke, Bond & Co., Ltd., and James Finlay & Co., Ltd., purchase land and begin planting tea extensively in Kenya, East Africa.
- 1925Modern trade
- Russia resumes tea buying on a large scale in all markets.
- 1925Modern trade
- The Tea Research Institute of Ceylon is established, and the Government imposes a cess of ten Ceylon cents per cwt. of tea exported, for its support.
- 1926Modern trade
- Black-tea production is increasing in Formosa, being approximately 400,000 lbs. per annum.
- 1926Modern trade
- The Japan Central Tea Association begins a five-year tea-advertising campaign in the United States.
- 1927Modern trade
- The India Tea campaign in France is discontinued.
- 1928Modern trade
- The first shipment of Kenya tea is sold in London.
- 1928Modern trade
- Leopold Beling is appointed India-tea commissioner in the United States.
- 1929Modern trade
- The 269-year-old English tea duty is removed.
- 1930Modern trade
- Tea from Uganda is first sold in London.
- 1930Modern trade
- Tea restriction among British and Dutch tea planters cuts down production 41 million pounds, this year, against an intended reduction of 57% million pounds.
- 1931Modern trade
- Tea restriction among British and Dutch tea planters is abandoned.
- 1931Modern trade
- A “Buy British’’ tea campaign is begun in the United Kingdom, continuing two years.
- 1932Modern trade
- The Ceylon State Council passes a bill authorizing an export duty of not more than one Ceylon cent per pound and the creation of a Tea Propaganda Board to advertise Ceylon tea at home and abroad. The amount of initial cess is fixed at one-half a cent, providing an annual income of £91,000.
- 1932Modern trade
- Ceylon prohibits the exportation of rubbishy teas.
- 1932Modern trade
- The Netherlands Indies Association for Tea Culture is organized at Batavia, Java.
- 1932Modern trade
- The British tea duty is restored in April with an impost of id. on foreign and 2d. on Empire-grown tea.
- 1933Modern trade
- A fiver-year plan of tea export regulation is adopted by the governments of British India, Ceylon, and the Netherlands Indies.
- 1933Modern trade
- Japan exhibits teas and tea novelties at the Chicago World’s Fair.
- 1933Modern trade
- Mr. G. Huxley is appointed chief commissioner in charge of the Ceylon tea advertising campaign.
- 1933Modern trade
- Propaganda for Ceylon tea is started in Canada by the Ceylon Tea Bureau, Montreal, with Mr. F. E. B. Gourlay in charge.
- 1933Modern trade
- Propaganda for Ceylon tea is begun in South Africa with Mr. Leslie Dow as resident commissioner.
- 1933Modern trade
- An International Tea Committee is formed in London as administrator of the five-year plan of tea export regulation adopted by British India, Ceylon, and the Netherlands Indies.
- 1933Modern trade
- The rate of the Indian tea cess is increased to 8 annas per lb. of tea exported.
- 1933Modern trade
- Propaganda for Empire-grown teas in the United Kingdom is re-organized under the name of “The Empire Tea Growers.”
- 1934Modern trade
- A new joint campaign is launched in the U.K. by the Empire Tea Growers.
- 1934Modern trade
- The Governor General of the Netherlands Indies decrees a tea propaganda cess of 39 Dutch cents per cwt. of estate tea and 19% cents for native-grown tea sold.
- 1934Modern trade
- A committee of enquiry, consisting of representatives from India, Ceylon, and Java, visits the United States to recommend the best plan for increasing tea consumption in America.
- 1934Modern trade
- A Code of Fair Competition is adopted by the tea trade of the U.S.A. under the National Recovery Administration.
About the source
William H. Ukers founded the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal in 1901 and spent three decades assembling All About Tea. Volume two closes with a chronology running from the legendary discovery to the year before publication. This is that chronology, transcribed and made searchable, with his own hedges preserved.
Ukers is quoted for what was recorded in 1935, not as a current authority. His dating of early Chinese events follows the scholarship of his day and some of it has since been revised. Where he marks a date approximate or legendary, so do we. The full scan is at the Internet Archive.