Have you ever wondered why International Chocolate Day is celebrated on 13 September?
The most common explanation is that the date was chosen to celebrate the birthday of Milton S. Hershey, the man who made chocolate famous in the United States. He was born on 13 September 1857 and believed that everyone—not just rich people—should be able to enjoy chocolate.
But the history of chocolate is much stranger than you might think!
Thousands of years ago, the Maya and the Aztecs didn’t eat chocolate bars. They drank chocolate as a bitter drink with spices and chilli peppers. In other words, if you had asked for a chocolate milkshake, you would probably have received something spicy enough to make you cry!
Chocolate was also so valuable that cocoa beans were used as money. Imagine going to the supermarket and paying for a pizza with cocoa beans instead of a credit card. You’d have to be very careful not to eat your wallet!
When chocolate first arrived in Europe, people weren’t sure they liked it because it was bitter. Then someone had the brilliant idea of adding sugar. That simple change turned chocolate into one of the world’s favourite foods. Honestly, whoever first added sugar deserves a round of applause!
Today, different countries celebrate Chocolate Day on different dates. It seems that people couldn’t agree on one day to celebrate chocolate… so they simply created several. But maybe that’s because one day is never enough for chocolate lovers!
After all, if there were an Olympic sport for finding the last piece of chocolate in the house, many of us would win a gold medal!