National Pizza Day!

Today is National Pizza Day!

Pizza is massively popular here in the United States. Americans consume 23 pounds of pizza a year! 3 billion pizzas are ordered every year (4 if you count frozen pizza sales), and the most popular topping? Pepperoni. 

Pizza is actually quite a lot older than people tend to realize. Back in the ancient Mediterranean, various flatbread dishes were enjoyed that could be seen as spiritual ancestors of modern pizza. The first known usage of the word "pizza" was found in 997 AD, used in a Latin document. In the 1800s in Naples, the working poor enjoyed flatbreads with various toppings. Pizza would be brought to the United States thanks to Italian immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century. However, like in the old country, pizza was viewed early on in the US as "low-class" food. World War II would help popularize the pizza. Post-war, Italian-Americans would move around the country, bringing the pizza with them. Also, American soldiers returning from Europe would also help turn the pizza into one of America's favorite snacks. 

The very first pizzeria (restaurant that serves pizza) is believed to be the Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba in Naples, Italy. Started in 1738 as a stand for peddlers, it would eventually become a more modern restaurant in 1830. The first American pizzeria is considered to be Lombardi's Pizza in Manhattan, opened in 1905. It was founded by its namesake, an Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi. However, Lombardi's role in the founding of the pizzeria was called into question in recent years.