Chocolate History Timeline

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1200 CE

• Chocolate is first utilized by the Aztecs

1579

• After overpowering a Spanish ship laden with a cargo of cacao beans, English buccaneers burn the ship and its precious cargo thinking that the beans were sheep dung.

1615

• Anne of Austria, a Spanish princess, marries Louis XIII of France. When she moves to her new home she brings along her habit of drinking chocolate, which quickly catches on at the French court.

1677

• The first Brazilian chocolate plantations are established.

1753

• The great botanist, Carolus Linneaus, dubs the cacao plant Theobroma cacao, which means cacao, food of the gods.

1765

• Only ten years after cacao is introduced the the United States, John Hannon and Dr. James Baker open the first U.S. chocolate factory. The factory is near Dorchester, MA.

1795

• Dr. Joseph Storres Fry uses a steam-engine to grind chocolate, a breakthrough that allows chocolate to be mass-produced.

1822

• John Cadbury, a Quaker and teetot aler, opens a shop in Birmingham, England. He hopes to convince people that coffee, tea, and chocolate are better and safer than alcohol.

1847

• Joseph Fry, the grandson of Joseph Storres Fry who first used a steam-engine to grind chocolate, invents the chocolate bar when he makes a paste of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sugar, and presses it into molds.

1893

• Milton Snavely Hershey purchases chocolate-making equipment for his factory in Lancaster, PA.

1896

• The first known brownie recipe appears in The Boston Cooking School Cookbook by Fannie Farmer. However, this recipe was for a molasses cake with nuts. The first chocolate brownie recipe did not appear until later.

1906

• The first known brownie recipe to include chocolate appears in the new edition of Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook.

1923

• The Mar-O-Bar company, owned by Frank Mars, begins selling the Milky Way Bar.

1928

• The Peanut Butter Cup is invented by HB "Harry" Reese.
• The Heath Brothers begin making a toffee candy bar called the Heath Bar.

~1930

• Ruth Graves Wakefield accidentally "invents" the chocolate chip while baking a batch of chocolate butter cookies.

1941

• Forrest Mars, Frank's son, goes into business with Bruce Murrie, thereby creating the M&M company.