Who invented the fork?

We had an excellent question from one of our fans: Who invented the fork? This is something you could literally spend hours in a library looking up, but here is the straight dope from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork (this is a whole lot to read about forks, but in the interest of credibility and stuff, I'm cutting and pasting it all):

The word 'fork' comes from the Latin furca, meaning "pitchfork." The ancient Greeks used^[1] the fork as a serving utensil, and it is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of I Samuel 2:13 ("The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant came, while the fresh flesh was boiling, with a fork of three teeth in his hand..."). Bone forks had been found in the burial site of Qijia culture as well as later Chinese dynasties' tombs.^[2]
In the Roman Empire, bronze and silver forks were used, indeed many examples are displayed in museums around Europe.^[3][4]. But the use varied according to local customs, social class and the nature of food. After, in the western area, the fork is only occasionally mentioned in high medieval sources however linked to Byzantium. However, it was not commonly used in Western Europe until the 16th century when it became part of the etiquette.
Before the fork was introduced, Westerners were reliant on the spoon and knife as the only eating utensils. Thus, people would largely eat food with their hands, calling for a common spoon when required. Members of the aristocracy would sometimes be accustomed to manners considered more proper and hold two knives at meals and use them both to cut and transfer food to the mouth, using the spoon for soups and broth.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest forks usually had only two tines, but those with numerous tines caught on quickly. The tines on these implements were straight, meaning the fork could only be used for spearing food and not for scooping it. The fork allowed meat to be easily held in place while being cut. The fork also allowed one to spike a piece of meat and shake off any undesired excess of sauce or liquid before consuming it. Wider use of the table fork in Western Europe was facilitated by two Byzantine imperial princesses who married into the Western aristocracy: the Empress Theophanu, wife of Emperor Otto II, in 972, and the Dogaressa Teodora Anna Dukaina Selvo, wife of the Doge of Venice Domenico Selvo, in 1075.^{[citation needed]}

By the 11th century, the table fork had made its way to Italy. In Italy, it became quite popular by the 14th century, being commonly used for eating by merchant and upper classes by 1600. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his own fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de' Medici's entourage. Long after the personal table fork had become commonplace in France, at the supper celebrating the marriage of the duc de Chartres to Louis XIV's natural daughter in 1692, the seating was described in the court memoirs of Saint-Simon: "King James having his Queen on his right hand and the King on his left, and each with their cadenas." In Perrault's contemporaneous fairy tale of La Belle au bois dormant (1697), each of the fairies invited for the christening is presented with a splendid "Fork Holder."

The fork's adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use, seeing it as "excessive delicacy": "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating."^[5][6] It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say forks were common in France, England and Sweden already by the early 17th century.^[7][8] The curved fork that is used in most parts of the world today, was developed in Germany in the mid 18th century. The standard four-tine design became current in the early 19th century.

The 20th century also saw the emergence of the "spork", a utensil that is half-fork and half-spoon. With this new "fork-spoon", only one piece of cutlery is needed when eating (so long as no knife is required). The back of the spork is shaped like a spoon and can scoop food while the front has shortened tines like a fork, allowing spearing of food, making it convenient and easy to use. It has found popularity in fast food and military settings.