Gail Borden, American surveyor and publisher, invented condensed milk (died 1874)

Gail Borden Jr. was an American inventor and manufacturing pioneer. He was born in New York state and settled in Texas in 1829, where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and food company entrepreneur. He created a process in 1853 to make sweetened condensed milk. Earlier, Borden helped plan the cities of Houston and Galveston in 1836.

Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed. It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of sweetened condensed milk, to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed milk" are often used interchangeably today. Sweetened condensed milk is a very thick, sweet product, which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if not opened. The product is used in numerous dessert dishes in many countries.