- 2000 BC – Even though it was used ritualistically as a drink, chocolate wasn’t only for the wealthy and powerful; common people likely enjoyed it too.
- 5th Century – Aztecs loved their newly discovered liquid chocolate so much that they believed Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, literally bestowed it upon them.
- 13th Century – Taking the love of chocolate to the next level, Aztecs use cacao beans as a currency.
- 16th Century – Once chocolate turned sweet in 16th-century Europe, the masses caught on and turned it into a powerhouse treat.
- 1609 – As the love for chocolate increases in Europe, a book is published in Mexico that is dedicated entirely to chocolate, “Libro en el cual se trata del chocolate
- 1765 – The first chocolate factory opened in the US. Dr. James Baker and John Hannon started a chocolate factory in Massachusetts.
- 1828 – Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten invented a hydraulic press that separated cocoa butter from cacao, producing a powder. This led to the first chocolate confections
- 1847 – Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar after discovering a method for making a moldable chocolate paste.
- 1868 – Cadbury started in England
- 1875 – Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter joined forces with M. Henri Nestlé, then a baby food manufacturer who had invented a milk-condensation process. Together, they found a way to bring milk chocolate onto the market. They would go on to form the Nestlé company.
- 1876 – Milk chocolate was created. Before then, chocolate was only dark, but when a Swiss chocolatier added powdered milk to the process, it changed everything.
- 1907 – Milton Hershey built a park to create a more pleasant environment for workers and residents, striving to rise above the typical factory towns of the time. The original main buildings, including a rustic bandstand and pavilion, serve as a stage for vaudeville and theatre productions.
- 1938 – Wakefield’s cookbook includes the recipe for the ‘Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.’
- Chocolate is technically a vegetable. Chocolate comes from the cacao bean, which grows on the cacao tree.
- As it contains no cocoa solids, white chocolate isn’t chocolate.
- Chocolate helps you lose weight. A study found that eating dark chocolate before dining at an all-you-can-eat buffet led to a 17% lower calorie intake among participants. It’s all about the sugar.
- Chocolate can help your heart. Per the American Heart Association: “Combining raw almonds, dark chocolate, and cocoa significantly reduced the number of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, particles in the blood of overweight and obese people. LDL is often called ‘bad cholesterol’ because of the role it plays in clogging arteries.
- Cocoa butter is the processed fat from the cocoa bean. Skincare products also include cocoa butter. Its fatty acids are touted as good for your skin.
- $10,000 — the price of Swarovski-studded chocolates.
- $25,000 – Frozen Haute Chocolate at Serendipity 3 in NY
- $300-400 — the price of a 1.76-ounce To’ak chocolate bar.
- 400 — the number of cacao beans it takes to make one pound of chocolate.
- 8 — the number of years it took to perfect the recipe for milk chocolate.
- 90 million — the number of chocolate Easter bunnies manufactured every year.
- 36 million — the number of heart-shaped chocolate boxes sold every Valentine’s Day.
- 28% — the percentage of all dark chocolate consumed in the U.S.
- 1700s — the decade when chocolate milk was created in Jamaica.
- 22 pounds — the amount of chocolate one would need to eat to kill a person.
- 7,084 – the number of Hershey Kisses you would need to eat to kill you
Sources:
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