| Chocolate in its many forms has become a | | | | delicious, invigorating and health-giving food. |
| sweet, sweet staple of the International diet. Only | | | | Chocolate drinking spread across the English |
| a few cacao devotees, however, know the first | | | | Channel to Britain, and in 1657 the European craze |
| thing about the substance's long, rich history. The | | | | was capped when the first of many famous |
| last time you were in the checkout line at the | | | | English Chocolate Houses appeared. |
| grocery store and considered adding a last minute | | | | 6. 1728 - A New English Tradition |
| Snickers bar to the belt, did Aztecs, Mayans or | | | | England was quick to adopt chocolate as part of |
| Spanish monks or cross your mind? I didn't think | | | | their everyday cuisine and it was here that |
| so. Enjoyment of your next piece of delicious | | | | flavors and preparation were mastered and |
| chocolate might be enriched after perusing the 10 | | | | refined. Many of the founding families of British |
| greatest moments in the delicacy's extensive | | | | chocolate are still in existence today. The |
| history. | | | | Rowntree, Cadbury and Fry companies began |
| 1. 250-900 AD - Ancient Mayans Fill Their Mugs | | | | specializing in the product and competition for the |
| The Mayan civilization is credited with being the | | | | chocolate gifts market was fierce. Joseph Fry of |
| first people to fully appreciate the cacao tree | | | | Fry & Sons (founded 1728 in Bristol) is credited |
| which is still the original source of chocolate as we | | | | with producing and selling the world's first |
| know it today. Chocolate has taken many | | | | chocolate bar. Fry's was eventually absorbed by |
| different forms throughout the centuries but the | | | | Cadbury and Rowntree merged with Swiss |
| Mayans first preferred to drink it. They grew so | | | | company Nestle to form the largest chocolate |
| fond of the energy-laden libation that it was soon | | | | manufacturer in the world. Cadbury have stayed |
| taken out of the jungles and grown right in their | | | | with chocolate production as their main focus and |
| own cities and ceremonial centers. The seeds | | | | are one of the best known Chocolate makers in |
| were then harvested, fermented, roasted, and | | | | the world to this day. |
| finally ground into a syrupy paste which became | | | | 7. 1765 - Coco for the Colonies |
| the final beverage. Humans wouldn't drink it piping | | | | As did most things inherently English, their new |
| hot until many centuries later, probably sometime | | | | version of chocolate was brought full circle back |
| after the invention of early morning hockey | | | | to the New World as the first colonies were |
| practices. | | | | established. In the burgeoning United States the |
| 2. 1400 - 1500 Aztecs go Crazy for Cacao | | | | production of chocolate evolved faster pace than |
| The mighty Aztecs of central Mexico lived further | | | | anywhere else in the world and in 1765 the first |
| north than the Mayans and at higher altitudes | | | | state side chocolate factory was established in |
| where the climate was not suitable for cultivation | | | | New England. Was the introduction of the tasty |
| of the cacao tree. As a result, it took them | | | | treat a final realization by the colonists that they |
| longer to discover the beans and they could only | | | | no longer needed to be under English control, thus |
| acquire them through trade or the spoils of war. | | | | sparking the onset of the revolution a year later? |
| The Aztecs developed trade routes with the | | | | Probably not, but it's a fun thought. |
| Maya and quickly began to share their affection | | | | 8. 1800 - A Tasty Industrial Revolution |
| for cacao, the earliest incarnations of which | | | | Mass-production methods introduced at the |
| offered such an energy boost that their warriors | | | | beginning of the 19th century changed the world |
| often drank it before going into battle. Frenzied | | | | as we know it - and the chocolate industry was |
| demand for the drink became so great that | | | | no exception. The invention of the steam engine |
| Aztecs eventually required citizens and conquered | | | | made it possible to grind cacao beans and |
| peoples pay their tribute in cacao seeds, which | | | | produce large amounts of chocolate cheaply and |
| became an early form of currency. Like the | | | | quickly. Greater quantities saw the steep prices |
| Maya, the Aztecs consumed their bitter chocolate | | | | plummeting, and for the first time chocolate could |
| libation, which they called "Xocolatl", seasoned with | | | | be afforded by the general public on both sides of |
| spices as sugar was a crop that had not yet been | | | | the Atlantic. New inventions and ingredients |
| introduced to the area. | | | | further improved chocolate's taste and texture, |
| 3. 1519 - Disappointed Spaniards Coin a Term | | | | as the recipe evolved alongside production |
| Spanish conquistadors arriving in the New World | | | | methods. The Industrial Revolution witnessed the |
| found the word Xocolatl almost impossible to | | | | development of an enormous number of new |
| pronounce and eventually morphed it to the more | | | | mechanical inventions and ushered in the era of |
| phonically pleasant 'Chocolat'. The Aztec's prized | | | | the chocolate factory. Willy Wonka was not far |
| their beloved Xocolatl so much that when | | | | behind! |
| Montezuma was defeated by Cortez in 1519, and | | | | 9. 1875 - The Swiss Begin to Milk it. |
| the victorious Spaniards searched his palace | | | | Humankind kept right on devising chocolate |
| expecting to find a treasury filled with riches | | | | innovations well after it reached mass appeal and |
| beyond their wildest dreams, they were in for a | | | | became an ordinary household treat. After nearly |
| second-rate shock. All the mustached marauders | | | | a decade of experimentation, Switzerland's Daniel |
| found in the halls of the mighty Monty were | | | | Peter put the first milk chocolate on the market |
| mountainous quantities of cocoa beans. Karma | | | | in 1875. Milk chocolate offered an alternative to |
| was a very fickle friend, even 500 years ago. | | | | the traditional dark and more bitter variety which |
| 4. 1521 - Cortez Finds the Missing Ingredient | | | | made it much more appealing to a wider audience |
| Chocolatemania wouldn't spread throughout the | | | | and furthered its progression into popular culture. |
| rest of Europe for nearly a century, but | | | | The Swiss would continue to perfect and become |
| technically it first became a European import | | | | known for their particular style of chocolate right |
| shortly after Spain's conquest of Mexico. | | | | up to the present day. |
| Recognizing the high value attached to cacao, the | | | | 10. 1925 - Chocolate as Big Business |
| Spanish began to ship it home and even adopted | | | | The most recent major milestone in the history |
| the Aztec custom of drinking chocolate. The | | | | of chocolate was the founding of the New York |
| famous explorer Cortez is attributed with being | | | | Cocoa Exchange in 1925. Originally located within |
| the first person to use sugar in addition to spices, | | | | the World Trade Center, the exchange officially |
| making the finished product far more palatable. As | | | | recognized cacao as a valuable stock commodity |
| a result, a much wider audience was about to go | | | | which could be bought and sold on the open |
| crazy for the version of chocolate we're familiar | | | | market. Perhaps the acceptance of cacao to the |
| with today. It wouldn't be long though before | | | | extent that it's now traded internationally on |
| Spanish monks, who had been tasked by the | | | | stock exchanges is yet another form of |
| royals with processing the new product, finally let | | | | Montezuma's revenge. |
| the secret out. Chocolate would eventually | | | | The next time you reach for your favorite candy |
| become an elite beverage and status symbol for | | | | bar, tuck into a Deep Forest cake or dust your |
| Europe's upper classes and remain so the next | | | | milkshake with sprinkles - remember the incredible |
| 300 years. | | | | history behind the wondrous substance which is |
| 5. 1657 - Europe Will Never be the Same | | | | chocolate. If learning about a food somehow |
| When the Spanish finally let the cat out of the | | | | makes it tastier, perhaps you'd better get ready |
| bag in the early 17th century, the rest of Europe | | | | to take your belt out a few notches. |
| quickly caught on to what they had been missing. | | | | This article is brought to you with pleasure by |
| The new-and-improved sweetened version of | | | | Phillips Chocolate, a Boston-based online gourmet |
| "chocolate" as it became commonly known soon | | | | chocolate retailer. Since 1925, Phillips has been |
| became the greatest culinary-related fad to hit | | | | delighting people of all ages with their unique, |
| the continent since fire. It did not take long before | | | | handmade chocolate gifts and high quality |
| chocolate was acclaimed throughout Europe as a | | | | confections. |