93% Of Americans Eat At Least One Pizza Every Month

On September 5th, National Cheese Pizza Day says, “Hold the toppings!” That’s right, cheese is all you need when celebrating this pizza holiday. Whether the pie is homemade or ordered in, make it cheese only.

• 997 AD – The first recorded use of the word ‘pizza’ was in a Latin text from Gaeta, Italy in 997 AD.
• 1830 – pizza truly began with the opening of the world’s first pizzeria. Named Port’Alba, the pizzas were cooked in an oven lined with lava from Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located on the Bay of Naples.
• 1889 – King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visit Naples, and she requests pizza topped with cheese, red tomatoes, and basil. It’s still a popular dish in Italy!
• 1905 – Gennaro Lombardi opened the first licensed American pizzeria, Lombardi’s Pizzeria Napoletana, at 53-1/2 Spring Street in New York City.
• 1939 – the D’Amore family introduced pizza to Los Angeles
• 1943 – Chicago deep-dish pizza is born. It was created by Ike Sewell in a restaurant called Pizzeria Uno in Chicago and is forever delicious.
• 1957 – The first frozen pizza is available. They were first released in supermarkets in the U.S.
• 1958 – Dan and Frank Carney, borrowed $600 from their mom and opened the first-ever Pizza Hut Kansas.
• 1960 – Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan has a degree in pizza-ology.  After starting the pizza chain in 1960, Monaghan initiated a business management program called Domino’s College of Pizza-ology in the 1980s. It made him one of the only three people in the world to hold such a degree.
• 1962 – The first frozen pizza hit the market in 1962.  Totino’s, which started as Totino’s Italian Kitchen is said to be the first company to offer frozen pizza in 1962.  Pillsbury bought the company in 1975.
• 1962 –  The Hawaiian pizza was invented in Canada in 1962 by Sam Panopoulos, a native of Greece who was running a pizzeria in Ontario Canada.
• 1994 – The record for most pizza deliveries was the night when American professional football player and actor O. J. Simpson fled from police in his famous car chase. (June 17, 1994)
• 1997 – it’s estimated the United States produced more than 2 billion pounds of pizza cheese.
• 2017 – The U.S. Military Lab recently invented a ready-to-eat pizza. This handy pizza can last for up to three years. Intended for soldiers abroad who just have to have a slice. Making its grand entrance in 2017 soldiers can open MRE #37 and enjoy their treat!
• Add a variety of cheeses to your pie to celebrate. Smokey gouda or a little gorgonzola might mix it up. If you like a little cheddar, mild or sharp shredded across the top will do.
• In ancient Greece, they covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. Many believe this to be the beginning of the pizza. In Byzantine Greek the word was spelled πίτα, or pita, meaning pie. The Romans also developed a version of the pizza pie. Using bay leaves for flavoring, the Romans topped the dough with cheese and honey.
• About 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza every month.
• 6,600 – Pizzerias in California, more than any other state.
• 59% – Adults who prefer pizza as a dinner option
• 41% of Americans eat pizza every week.
• 93% of Americans have eaten pizza sometime in the last month
• Pizza accounts for more than 10 percent of all food service sales
• 350 – Slices of pizza sold every second
• 70,000 – Pizzerias in the U.S.
• $40 billion – The size of the pizza industry in the U.S.
• 46 – Slices of pizza are eaten each year by the average person.
• 51,000 pounds – The weight of the largest pizza ever made
• Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or about 350 slices per second.
• A 14-inch pie is currently the most popular pizza size in the US.
• Most pizzas are delivered (and eaten) on New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve, and Super Bowl Sunday.
• The three dots in the Domino’s Pizza logo represent the first three Domino’s Pizza stores.
• Pepperoni is the most popular pizza topping in the United States.
• We consume around 251,770,000 pounds of pepperonis every year
• Some popular pizza toppings in Japan are squid and Mayo Jaga (mayonnaise, potato and bacon)
• The highest-grossing single-unit independent pizzeria in the nation, Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria is in Anchorage, Alaska. Its annual sales are approximately $6 million.
• There are approximately 70,000 pizzerias in the United States.
• The regular thin pizza crust is still the most popular crust, preferred by 61 percent of the population. Thick crust and deep dish tied for second, at 14%. Only 11 percent of the population prefers extra thin.
• Saturday is the most popular night to eat pizza.
• Italian is the most popular type of Ethnic food in America
• During TV news, pizza is most often ordered during the weather
• NASA funded & tested a 3D printer that can make pizza for astronauts
• One 18-inch pizza gives you more pizza than two 12-inch pizzas
• The average slice of pizza is 25 percent protein
• Approximately 36% of Americans think pizza is perfect for breakfast
• There are more than 34 million ways to create a single pizza from Domino’s.
• The shape of the original Italian pizzas was square.  Today, it is more recognized as the ‘Sicilian cut.’ They also used Romano cheese on the pies at first before switching to modern-day favorite Mozzarella.
• Did you know that there is a technical term for pizza “crust”? It’s called cornicione or the “end crust”.
• A person who makes pizza is known as a pizzaiolo.
•  Dough-spinning has its own professional-level sporting event. At the World Pizza Championships, you would be competing against the best in five competitive events Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing, Fastest Dough, Largest Dough Stretch, Fastest Pizza Box Folding and the Pizza Triathlon.
• There’s also the masters division of Freestyle Acrobatic Dough Tossing.
• The first celebrities who promoted pizza in America were Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Jerry Colonna and baseball star Joe DiMaggio.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Foodimentary

Mobile-Cuisine

Pizza

Eat This

Hungry Howie’s 

Facts

National Today