Original eau de Cologne celebrates 300 years

The first bottle of eau de Cologne was created by Giovanni Maria Farina, an Italian expatriate living in the eastern German city of Cologne. On July 13, 1709, Farina opened a luxury goods shop where the fragrance was sold.

In a letter to his brother dated in 1709, Farina wrote, "I have discovered a scent that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain." He named it after the city he lived in.