Why were mashed potatoes invented?

Forced to eat potatoes or starve to death, Parmentier soon discovered that potatoes weren't the leprosy-inducing animal feed that French people believed them to be. The imprisoned pharmacist actually discovered that potatoes were a delicious food source and began experimenting with different variations of the tuber.

When was the first potato masher invented?

1887. The year that inventors Jacob Fitzgerald and William H. Silver were awarded a patent for a “potato-masher and fruit-crusher.” The device, which later came to be known as a “potato ricer,” works by crushing the potato through a sheet of small holes, akin to a garlic press.