Spain and Italy were the first countries to adopt the fork as a utensil to be used at the table to eat with rather than just a serving utensil. This was in the 16th century. It would be a hundred years before the French decided to use the fork at table.
It is against the law to eat chicken with a fork in Gainesville, Georgia, the 'Chicken Capital of the World.'
In the 11th century the Christian Church was opposed to the use of forks. So much so, that when a Byzantine princess who used a 2 tined gold fork died from the plague, her death was called "a just punishment from God."
In the U.S. forks did not become popular until the 19th century, when the Rockefellers, Morgans and Carnegies popularized them.
Jenniver Drapkin, Smithsonian (5/2006)
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