Pellagra Timeline By jannasherman 7000 BCE Farmers domesticate corn in the Rio Balsas region of present-day Mexico 1000 BCE Masa produced by nixtamalization increases nutritional value of corn 1500 Spanish explorers take corn to Europe 1600 European Settlers arrive and are taught to nixtamalize corn by Native Americans 1700 Pellagra occurs across southern Europe 1735 Gaspar Casal diagnoses pellagra in Spain 1901 John Beall patents the Beall Degerminator 1914 Joseph Goldberger proposes pellagra is not infections but is a disease based on an insufficient diet 1915 In an experiment at a prison in Mississippi, Goldberger induces pellagra in prisoners by restricting their diet 1916 Goldberger and his colleagues conduct "filth parties" in an attempt to 'catch' pellagra 1921 Cotton prices fall and pellagra rates rise. Southern Leaders insist that famine and plague does not exist in the South 1945 Pellagra epidemic ends after niacin is added to bread and flour (including cornmeal)