Chocolate Timeline

• 3000 plus years and chocolate rules the candy world.Appealing to all types of people at any age.
• 2000 BC, Amazon:There Cocoa, is said to have originated in the Amazon approximately 4000 years ago which means... It was just beginning.
• Sixth Century AD: chocolate was produced from the seed of a cocoa tree. The mayas then named it cachuaquchti xocoatl meaning tree and bitter water.
• 300 AD, Maya Culture: The Mayans soon started to immortal the pictures of cocoa pods in stones on there temples or palaces.It was believed that the pods represented life and fertility.
• 600 AD, Maya Culture: In the Yucatán, the first known cocoa plantation was started by the Mayans. It is not uncommon that Mayas expressed that cocoa was food for the gods in religion and literature. Chocolate changed the way some people worship or express there values.
• 1200, Aztec Culture: Aztecs believe a god Quetzalcoatl brought the stolen cocoa tree frm paradise. The aztecs were more knowledgeable with spices adding sugar and even hot chili peppers or corn meal for cocoa mixtures. Wisdom , power and good health was said to be what was obtained once you consumed the chocolate. It was said 50 goblets everyday were used by the emperor, Motezuma who dyed the chocolate Red. Each time he poured a glass it would have to be in a new golden goblet and the old would have to be thrown away.
  The cocoa beans were used for currency… The Aztecs started conquering tribes and demanding they pay in cocoa beans. What a currency huh?
• 1492, Columbus Returns From America: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella received almond looking beans which weren't noticed.
• 1502, Columbus landed in Nicaragua: On his fourth voyage to America, Columbus became the first European to discover cocoa beans being used as currency, and to make a delightful drink. He didn't see any potential in the cocoa industry
• 1513, will beans buy you anything? : You BET! Reports from a man who went to America says that a slave could be bought for 100 beans, Services like prostitution only cost 10 beans and 4 beans meant you could eat a rabbit dinner.This is always when the word "chocolate" became more commonly used.
• 1519, does money grow on trees?: conqueror Hernando Cortez, established a cocoa plantation which meant that he could produce a form of currency himself.
  
• 1528, Chocolate Arrives in Spain: King Charles V was presented with the idea of cocoa beans as currency from Cortez who taught him the skills necessary to produce the production then inspired a sweeter version which would be more desirable by adding sugar. The Spaniards then begin to mix the beans with sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. The result was much success for his plantation making the drink a Nobel nessesity.Almost 100 years pasted by before the secret about chocolate was discovered by other parts of the world.
  
• 1544, Dominican Friars gets them talking: Spanish Monks released the secret of the Cocoa beans allowing the fad to spread acrossed Europe like wild fire.
  The beans were still used as a form of currency. Three beans could be traded for a turkey egg, a new avocado, or a fish wrapped in maize husks. One bean bought a ripe avocado, tomato, or a tamale.
  
• 1569, The Roman Church says: Pope Pius V disliked chocolate then declared that drinking chocolate on Friday did not break The Fast.
  
• 1579, Buccaneers Burn Currency???: ah those English Buccaneers set fire to a Spanish ship full of cocoa beans thinking it was sheep waste.
  
• 1587, still burning currency?: The British captured a Spanish vessel filled with cocoa beans which caught fire fast because they were believed to be useless.
  
• 1609, Chocolate in Literature: Mexico's "Libro en el cual se trata del chocolate" was the first text all about the chocolate.
  
• 1615, The dowry: Ann of Austria, introduced the beverage to her new husband, Louis the XIII along with his royal court.
  
• 1625, FINALLY THEY GET IT! DUH! : 200 small cocoa beans were valued at 1 Spanish real, or 4 cents.
  
• 1643, The French and chocolate: Spanish Princess Maria Theresa gave her fianceé Louis XIV an engagement gift of packaged Chocolate in an elegant chest. He appointed Sieur David illou to produce and sell chocolate. It accumulated more money intake.
• Chocolate Mania in Paris: The fad of chocolate which now included candy started in Paris and then conquered the rest of France. Chocolate was believed to be an aphrodisiac making it even more popular. Soon art and literature was influenced with erotic imagery inspired by chocolate.
• Can Chocolate kill?:Marquis de Sade, became an expert in using chocolate to disguise poisons.
• Does chocolate swoon you?: Casanova was reputed for using chocolate with champagne to seduce the ladies.
  
• 1657, elite houses of candy?: A Frenchman was the first to open his doors in London making chocolate houses common places for the elite London society to enjoy the luxurious beverage. The advertisement was "THIS EXCELLENT WEST INDIA DRINK."

• 1662, THE EASTER BUNNY?: The popularity of chocolate grew and The Church of Rome took a second look at this new fad. The findings: "Liquidum non frangit jejunum," which reiterated that a chocolate drink did not break the fast however you could not eat chocolate confections until after Easter. This is where the Easter Bunny starts hoppin down that good ole' bunny trail.
  
  
• 1671, Mistake or not it was a lesson well learned: As the story goes, a bowlful of almonds is dropped, and the chef turns into a demond trying to "box the ears" of his kitchen boy who really isn't getting enough credit here… but anyhow instead of being successful in tormenting the kitchen boy he spills a pan full of hot, burnt sugar over the almonds. Meanwhile The Duke of Plesslis-Praslin, is waiting for his dessert and he wants it ASAP!
  His personal chef demond decideds the Duke won't know what he is eating anyways, and serves the Duke almonds covered in cooled burnt sugar. The Duke was so fooled he becomes inspired to give his name to this nouveau sweet. Today we call this convection "praline." oh yeah and for the record the Duke did actually like it.
  
• 1674, OH NOW we wanna bake huh?: At the Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll they begin serving chocolate in cakes, and rolls.
  
• 1677, Everyone wants in the Market!: November 1, 1677, Brazil establishes its first cocoa plantations in the State of Par and later they become very great in the market of chocolate.
  
• 1704, You going to Tax me for that?: Frederick I of Prussia imposed a tax once the chocolate appeared in Germany. Just because he knew people wanted it so bad. YIKES POLITICS!
  
  
• 1720, CHOCOLATIERS? ha ha : Italian Chocolatiers from Florence and Venus, are welcomed to France, Germany and Switzerland to use their art of skillful chocolate producing.
  
• 1730, Mass Production is what I am talkin about: a perfected steam engine, which mechanized the cocoa grinding process made this all possible. Chocolate had dropped in price making it in financial reach of all.
  
• 1747, Frederick III of Prussia forbids it!: So Frederick used his evil power to make sure that only the wealthy could afford chocolate.
  
• 1755, America Discovers Chocolate: Oh yeah that's right.. We may not have been the first but we had to join sometime to get the Hershey factories.
  
• 1765, In the USA we ROCK: HA ha we are TOP DOG we made the production of chocolate much faster in our first chocolate shop.
• 1780, Spain : The first machines made some in Barcelona just incase you were wondering.

• 1792, Berlin gets one of these so called factories: These Josty brothers from Grisons (cause you thought you knew them)open a confectioners shop and make a hit selling Swiss Chocolate… and then they open a chocolate factory in Berlin just for the shell of it all.
  
• 1797, what's life without it?: As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe tours Switzerland he thinks that he would die without chocolate so he has to have it available 24-7.
• 1800, an Industry made of Chocolate?: Antoine Brutus Menier built the first industrial manufacturing facility for chocolate.
  
• 1810, Venezuela's Dominates : A survey shows that Venezuela produces half of the world's chocolate which is a lot. And 1/3 is consumed by the Spaniards because they are cool like that.
  
• 1819, The Swiss Chocolate Factory: Fran‡ois-Louis Cailler, who kinda stole some education from Italy founds his first factory.

• Maybe it was your Aunt Betty's recipe:Secret techniques in blending and roasting beans,traditional family recipes and creative interpretations, and innovative candy making techniques have been handed down from generation to generation which now is some of the top selling stuff.
  
• 1822, The Cocoa Tree becomes Ornamental??: Ferreira Gomes from Portugal introduces the cocoa tree as an ornamental plant because it was the right thing to do at the time.
  
• 1828, The Cocoa Press is Invented: By pressing hard they reduced prices and helped to improve the quality of the beverage by squeezing out part of the cocoa butter which no one likes..lol. Giving it a more pleasurable taste.
• 1830, SOLID MAN: by J. S. Fry and Sons, a British chocolate maker started the solid trend.
  
• 1847, An English Company Introduced Fondant Chocolate: Making the chocolate so smooth it almost completely replaced the traditional gritty chocolate.
  
• 1849, Cadbury Chocolate: The exhibition was at Bingley Hall at Birmingham, England which apparently those cadbury brothers were responsible.
  
• 1851, Those stupid Americans... We can't think of anything: It was the first time citizens of the United States were introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hard candies (called "boiled sweets" eww not appealing good thing we changed the name), and caramels.
  
• 1853, Thank the lord: Once English duties made Chocolate a luxury for the wealthy, now they were allowing a number of cocoa and drinking chocolate manufacturers to get into the business
  
• 1857, Important Producer to watch for: A Portuguese Baron of Agua Iz, takes the cultivation of cocoa from Principe Island to a neighboring island, Sao Thome, and then to the African continent. Basle Mission members in Ghana encourage the growth of this emerging crop, and small to medium farmers turn Ghana into one of the most important producers.
  
• 1875, COWS and CHOCOLATE?: After 8 years of experimentation, Daniel Peter from Switzerland puts the first milk chocolate on the market.
  
• 1879, M&M's slogan is from a real chocolate break through: Rodolphe Lindt of Berne, Switzerland, invented "conching", a means of heating and rolling chocolate to refine it. After chocolate has been conched for 72 hours and has more cocoa butter added to it, chocolate becomes "fondant" and it melts in your mouth.
  
• 1900, The Race: Switzerland takes the lead. Spain, where chocolate was first introduced to Europeans, falls far behind. Germany consumes the most per head, followed by the United States, France and Great Britain aka that means Americans still rock!
  
• 1910, The Swiss Reputation of chocolate is top of the line: unbroken series of medals at international exhibitions gets Swiss Chocolate elevated to a national dish.
  
• 1913, Those Boxed kinds : Jules Sechaud of Montreux in Switzerland introduced filling chocolates. you know putting that nasty pink stuff in them.
  
• 1923, CMA is BORN: The Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the United States of America (CMA) was created.
  
• 1925, Whoa COCOA!! : The New York Cocoa Exchange, located at the World Trade Center, was begun so that buyers and sellers could get together for transactions which make it an even more successful industry.
  
• 1938, World War II: The U.S. government recognized chocolate's role in the Allied Armed Forces. It allocated valuable shipping space for the importation of cocoa beans which would give many weary soldiers the strength to carry. Today, the U.S. Army D-rations include three 4-ounce chocolate bars. Chocolate has even been taken into space as part of the diet of U.S. astronauts because there is nothing like it anywhere.
  
• You may read that chocolate is an aphrodisiac based on studies from reputable universities. This is because scientists have isolated phenylethylamine (PEA) which is a stimulant found in chocolate, and also in the brain .They know this because they experimented alot.A tiny amount of phenylethylamine is released at moments of emotional euphoria, raising blood pressure and heart rate. There is no evidence that phenylethylamine found in foods increases it in the brain. So its not a for sure thing foods to also think about cheddar cheese, salami and pickled herring all contain more phenylethylamine than Chocolate. So .. if you think you need an aphrodisiac eat some SALAMI.