1) I suppose eggs have been around for quite a long time... ;-) 2) "In 1665 Hooke published Micrographia, a book describing his microscopic and telescopic observations, and some original work in biology. Hooke coined the term cell for describing biological organisms, the term being suggested by the resemblance of plant cells to monks' cells. The hand-crafted, leather and gold-tooled microscope he used to make the observations for Micrographia, originally constructed by Christopher White in London, is on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hooke 3) "Matthias Jakob Schleiden (5th April 1804 - 23 June 1881) was a German botanist and co-founder of the cell theory, along with Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow. Born in Hamburg, Schleiden was educated at Heidelberg and practiced law in Hamburg, but soon developed his hobby of botany into a full-time pursuit. Schleiden preferred to study plant structure under the microscope. While a professor of botany at the University of Jena, he wrote Contributions to Phytogenesis (1838), in which he stated that the different parts of the plant organism are composed of cells. Thus, Schleiden and Theodor Schwann became the first to formulate what was then an informal belief as a principle of biology equal in importance to the atomic theory of chemistry. He also recognized the importance of the cell nucleus, discovered in 1831 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown, and sensed its connection with cell division. Schleiden was one of the first German biologists to believe in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He became professor of botany at the University of Dorpat in 1863. He concluded that all plant parts are made of cells. He died in Frankfurt am Main on 23 June 1881." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Jakob_Schleiden 4) "Theodor Schwann (7 December 1810 – 11 January 1882) was a German physiologist. His many contributions to biology include the development of cell theory, the discovery of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system, the discovery and study of pepsin, the discovery of the organic nature of yeast, and the invention of the term metabolism." "Once, when Schwann was dining with Matthias Jakob Schleiden (who in 1837 had viewed and stated that new plant cells formed from the nuclei of old plant cells) in 1837, the conversation turned on the nuclei of plants and animal cells. Schwann remembered seeing similar structures in the cells of the notochord (as had been shown by Müller) and instantly realized the importance of connecting the two phenomena. The resemblance was confirmed without delay by both observers, and the results soon appeared in his famous Microscopic Investigations on the Accordance in the Structure and Growth of Plants and Animals, in which he declared that "All living things are composed of cells and cell products." Thus cell theory was definitely constituted. In the course of his verification of cell theory, in which Schwann traversed the whole field of histology, he proved the cellular origin and development of the most highly differentiated tissues including nails, feathers, and tooth enamel. His generalization became the foundation of modern histology, and in the hands of Rudolf Virchow (whose cellular pathology was an inevitable deduction from Schwann) placed modern pathology on a truly scientific basis." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Schwann 5) "Virchow's cell theory, "omnis cellula e cellula" - every living cell comes from another living cell." "Virchow is credited with multiple important discoveries. Virchow's most widely known scientific contribution is his cell theory, which built on the work of Theodor Schwann. He is cited as the first to recognize leukemia cells. He was one of the first to accept and plagiarize the work of Robert Remak who showed that the origins of cells was the division of preexisting cells. This Virchow encaspulated in the epigram Omnis cellula e cellula ("every cell originates from another existing cell like it.") which he published in 1858. (The epigram was actually coined by François-Vincent Raspail but popularized by Virchow). It is a rejection of the concept of spontaneous generation, which held that organisms could arise from non-living matter. It was believed, for example, that maggots could spontaneously appear in decaying meat; Francesco Redi carried out experiments which disproved this. Redi's work gave rise to the maxim Omne vivum ex ovo ("every living thing comes from a living thing" [literally, "from an egg"]), Virchow (and his predecessors) extended this to state that the only source for a living cell was another living cell." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Virchow "[Robert Remak (July 26, 1815 - August 29, 1865)] discovered that the origin of cells was by the division of pre-existing cells. Unfortunately, after years of doubt this work was accepted and plagiarized by Rudolf Virchow Despite his accomplishments, because of his Jewish faith he was repeatedly denied full professor status until late in life, and even then was denied the usual benefits of the position." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Remak

Some say it was the Inquisition. I think it was Attica.