Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first hamper of green peas was presented to King Louis XIV of France in January 1660. This event marked the birth of a culinary revolution that turned a humble field crop into a symbol of royal luxury. The Savoyan comte de Soissons personally shelled the peas for the King, Queen, and the King's brother to create a ritual of consumption.
Gregor Mendel grew and examined approximately 28,000 pea plants to uncover the fundamental laws of inheritance. He worked in the garden of an Augustinian abbey in the mid-19th century to cross-bred tall and dwarf plants, green and yellow seeds, and purple and white flowers. His findings were published in an obscure Austrian journal and remained hidden until about 1900.
Archaeological evidence places the earliest cultivation of peas in the late Neolithic era with finds dating back to 4400 BC in the Nile Delta. The crop was also found in Fennoscandia by 4000 BC, establishing it as one of the oldest domesticated plants in human history. By the 5th millennium BC, the pea had reached Georgia and by 2250 BC it was present in the Ganges Basin.
Rhizobia bacteria live within root nodules and convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia to create amino acids and proteins. This process of nitrogen fixation allows peas to act as natural fertilizers by releasing nitrogen back into the soil when the plant dies. The plant's ability to fix nitrogen makes it a cornerstone of sustainable farming in diverse climates.
The first sweet-tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton near Salisbury, England. This innovation led to the development of modern split peas and the creation of snow peas and snap peas with tender edible pods. The French called these edible-pod varieties mangetout meaning eat-all pea.