1864
First known diet book published: "Letter on Corpulence," calling for low carbs and daily booze, by William Banting, an English casketmaker who became alarmed when he could no longer tie his shoes. 58,000 copies sold.

1873
First mention of anorexia.

1890s
Chemist Wilbur O. Atwater elucidates the concept of food components--proteins, carbohydrates and fats--and measures their calorie content.

Early 1900s
Scales become widely available; calorie-counting born.

"The Great Masticator," a San Francisco art dealer named Horace Fletcher, writes bestseller saying chewing each bite 32 times controls your weight. Dinner table conversation comes to a halt as people around the nation "Fletcherize." Future cereal king John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Mich., introduces rainwater douches, sweat packs and plunge baths, used in addition to Fletcherizing.

1917
"Diet and Health, With Key to the Calories," by Lulu Hunt Peters, prescribes 1,200-calorie-a-day diet. Sells 2 million copies.

1926
Bulimia first discussed by doctors.

1930s
Dinitrophenol, an insecticide and herbicide, taken by thousands to control weight. Twelve women blinded; others die. Makes comeback in 1980s.

1935
Johns Hopkins professor introduces banana-and-skim-milk diet with AMA approval. Also popular is Hollywood 18-Day Diet, 585 calories, mostly grapefruit.

1948
TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) founded by housewife Esther Manz; first support group for weight loss.

1957
Injection of human chorionic gonadotropin becomes most popular medication to lose weight. Derived from urine of pregnant women, rabbits or mares, it proved useless. Still available.

1960
Jack LaLanne's exercise show is most watched daily TV program.

Overeaters Anonymous founded in L.A. by housewife Roxanne S.

1961
"Calories Don't Count," by Herman Taller, sells 2 million copies; against carbs and refined sugar; advocates large quantities of unsaturated fat. (In 1967 Taller is convicted of mail fraud for selling "worthless" safflower capsules.)

1962
FDA seizes Jack LaLanne's Protein Wafers and Instant Breakfast. Health claims overstated!

1963
Weight Watchers founded by housewife Jean Nidetch.

1967
Irwin Stillman publishes "Quick Weight Loss Diet" (high-protein, low-carb). 20 million people try it.

1970
Eight percent of all prescriptions are for amphetamines, which suppress appetite.

1972
Robert Atkins publishes "Diet Revolution" (eat all the fat you want; high-protein, low-carb). A bestseller.

1975
Stillman dies of a heart attack.

1978
"The Scarsdale Diet" published by Herman Tarnower (700 calories a day; high-protein). Also a bestseller.

1979
Pritikin Program for Diet and Exercise. Very low fat. Fat-free era begins.

The CDC reports deaths of 58 people from going on liquid protein formula made of ground-up animal hides, tendons, and bones.

1980
Tarnower shot to death by girlfriend Jean Harris. She said she had run out of the amphetamine (desoxyn) that he had prescribed for her.

1981
Cambridge Diet, one of most dangerous ever: a 320-calorie-a-day liquid diet. Postal Service and FDA stop mail order sales after two months. Thirty people die after pyramid marketing scheme replaces mail order.

Judy Mazel's Beverly Hills Diet. Exotic fruits. "The more time you spend on the toilet, the better," Mazel says. Revised as "The New Beverly Hills Diet" in 1996.

1983
Jenny Craig chain opens.

Karen Carpenter dies of anorexia.

1988
Oprah Winfrey, dragging a wagon piled with 67 pounds of fat, announces on her TV show she has lost that much with Optifast.

1992
"Weigh Down Workshop," a Christian diet program, is started by Gwen Shamblin. Pray more, eat less. Now in 30,000 locations in 70 nations.

Studies show a combination of fenfluramine and phentermine produces weight loss; factories work around the clock to keep up with the Fen-phen demand.

Atkins reissues low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diet book.

NIH panel of obesity experts concludes diets don't work. Short period of sanity ensues.

1993
Cardiologist Dean Ornish publishes "Eat More, Weigh Less." Adds meditation and group support to Pritikin. Low-fat era kicks into high gear.

"Stop the Insanity," by Susan Powter, is bestseller. Low-fat and anger.

Oprah Winfrey hires personal trainer to help her lose weight she regained.

1994
Leptin discovered. Makes fat mice thin. Genetic research continues.

1995
Resurgence of low-carb, high-protein diets begins.

1996
Redux approved by FDA.

1997
Fen-phen is taken off the market after studies link it to heart valve disease.

1999
Atkins reissues his diet book again. At least four other low-carb, high-protein diets and their ancillaries hog the bestseller list: "Sugar Busters!," "Protein Power," "Eat Great, Lose Weight," "The Zone."

CHEWING THE FAT: Morsels From Dieting History
--Copyright The Washington Post, Style Section, October 12, 1999