1500-400 BC - The "Olmec" indians were believed to be the first to domesticate the cacao tree. Most likely they did not use it for the cacao seeds(beans) but probably for the fruit around the seeds.

250-900 AD - Consumption of cocoa beans as a drink(or any other form) was restricted to the mayans elite in society. It was served as an unsweetened drink. The Mayans were the first to make chocolate that we know of.

600 AD - Mayans migrate into northern regions of South America establishing earlist known cacao plantations in the Yucatan.

1300's - The cacao drink became popular amoung the Aztec upper classes. Aztecs called the Drink "xocalatl" meaning warm or bitter liquid. That is where we get the name "chocolate".

1502 - Columbus encountered a large mayan trading canoe in Guanaja carrying cacao beans as cargo.

1519 - Cortez Popularized chocolate for drinking after partying with Montezuma.

1585 - First official shipments of cocoa beans arived in Seville. They were shiped from Vera Cruz, Mexcio.

1500's - In the late 1500's the Spanish began to add sugar and flavoring to their cocoa beverages.

1657 - The first chocolate house opened in London by a Frenchmen. It was named, "The Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll".  The chocolate drink costing 10-15 shillings per pound.

1730 - Cocoa beans dropped in price and became available to others than the wealthy.

1732 - French Inventor, Monsieur Dubuisson Invented a table mill for Grinding chocolate.

1753 - Sweedish Naturalist Carolus Linnaeus called the fruit of the cacao tree "Theobroma" Cacao, meaning "food of the gods" in Greek.

1765 - Chocolate was introduced to the United States when Irish chocolate maker John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the west indies into Dorchester Massachusetts to refine them with the help of Dr. James Baker. The pair soon built Americas first chocolate mill and by 1780 the mill was making the famous "Bakers chocolate"

1800's - Caramel and Toffee were invented in the early 1800's.

1819 - Francois Louis Callier a pioneer of swiss chocolate making opened the first Swiss chocolate factory.

1828 - Conrad Van Houten invented the cocoa press which pressed out about 25% of the fat of chocolate liquor and left a "cake" of cocoa powder which was then pulverized. He then treated this powder with an alkaline to make it easier to mix into drinks. This process is called "dutching".

1847 - J.S. Fry and Sons mixed together cocoa powder, melted cocoa butter, and sugar to create the first chocolate bar that could be molded due to its lower viscosity than chocolate without cocoa butter added. This turned out to be the first chocolate bar. Chocolate before that, as far as we know, was in a drink form.

1851 - Americans were first introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hard candies, and caramels through Prince Alberts exposition in London.

1857 - The process of making milk chocolate was invented by Daniel Peter.

1868 - Guittard Chocolate Company was formed by Etienne Guittard.

1875 - Daniel Peter of Vevey Switzerland brought the first milk chocolate bar to market in 1875.

1879 - Rodolphe Lindt Invented "Conching" in Berne, Switzerland.

1886 - Fudges first documented sale.

1888 - Fudge recipe was taken (from above) by Emelyn Hartridge and she made 30 pounds for senior auction at Vassar college.

1897 - The first known published recipe for chocolate Brownines appeared in the "Sears and Roebuck" Catalogue.

1913 - Swiss confiseur Jules Sechaud of Montreux introduced a machine process for manufacturing filled chocolates.

1923 - The CMA (Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the USA) was organized.