It is surprising that eating three meals a day-breakfast, lunch and dinner-has been a custom(习俗) only since 1890. Before this time, people only had two meals a day-breakfast and dinner. In the 16th century, breakfast was only to break one's fast(随便吃一点). But 200 years later it had become a large meal, not just for family, but for numbers of guests as well. It was a social(社会的)event. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular. It became, instead, a lighter meal and was taken at a much earlier hour. By 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a.m. and became a family meal. Dinner, however, went to the other way. In the 16th century it was eaten at 11 a. m. Years later, it had moved to the early afternoon, then to 5 p.m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p.m. Lunch is a recent idea. It first appeared as a snack to fill the gap(间隙) between breakfast and dinner.