{"id":127252,"date":"2023-02-06T20:44:01","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T01:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/?p=127252"},"modified":"2024-02-09T16:36:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T21:36:15","slug":"national-pizza-day-is-february-9th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/national-pizza-day-is-february-9th\/","title":{"rendered":"National Pizza Day is February 9th"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\"National<\/a>National Pizza Day is February 9th! Pizza is the second most popular food in America after the Hamburger. Detroit has had a huge hand in popularizing pizza. Two of the largest pizza chains have their roots in metro Detroit. Domino’s Pizza<\/strong><\/a> (DPZ<\/a>) was started in Ypsilanti, MI<\/a><\/strong>, and is HQ\u2019d<\/a> in Ann Arbor. Little Caesars<\/a><\/strong> started<\/a> in Garden City, MI<\/a>, and its HQ is in Detroit<\/a>. In ‘Q4 of 2021 42 % of sales<\/a> among major pizza chains went to Domino\u2019s. Little Caesars earned 13 percent<\/a> of U.S. sales among the pizza chains in ‘Q421. Globally pizza sales in 2022 were $141.1 billion<\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pizza\u2019s origin story<\/h3>\r\n

\"From<\/a>The origins of pizza are lost in antiquity. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans had flatbreads topped with<\/a> oils, herbs, figs, cheese, and even meats. Pizza that we would recognize appeared in Naples during the 16th century as street food for the poor. It was not until approx. 1552 when the Spanish brought the tomato to Europe<\/a> from the Americas that the modern pizza was invented. The biggest leap in the evolution of Pizza occurred with the unification of Italy<\/a> in 1861.<\/p>\r\n

Tradition says that in 1889 King Umberto I<\/a> and Queen Margherita<\/a> had grown bored with their French diet and wanted to try some pizzas from Naples’ Pizzeria Brandi<\/a> pizzeria. The Queen enjoyed a pizza made to resemble the Italian flag with white mozzarella cheese, red tomatoes, and green basil for toppings. Since then, this pizza was also called the Margherita pizza<\/a> after the Queen.<\/p>\r\n

\"QueenEven with a royal fan like the Queen, Pizza would remain non-existent beyond Italy\u2019s borders until WWII. With the growing number of Italians immigrating to the U.S. for jobs, and WWII vets who severed in Italy pizza\u2019s popularity took off. Troops stationed in Italy in the 1940s would eat pizza and upon their return home seek out the pies, increasing demand in the U.S. to rank second behind hamburgers and the most popular food in America. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Important dates in U.S. Pizza history<\/h3>\r\n

1904 \u2013 The first printed reference<\/a> to “pizza” served in the U.S. is in an article in The Boston Journal.<\/p>\r\n

1905 – The first pizzeria in the U.S., Lombardi’s<\/a>, opened in New York City.<\/p>\r\n

1943 – Pizzeria Uno<\/a> in Chicago probably<\/a> invents the deep dish pizza.<\/p>\r\n

1945 – A WWII veteran who had been stationed in Italy, Ira Nevin<\/a> built the first gas-fired <\/strong>Bakers Pride<\/a> pizza oven sparking the commercialization of pizza.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\"Buddy's<\/p>\r\n

1946 \u2013 Detroit Pizza<\/strong> was developed at Buddy’s Rendezvous<\/a>, a former speakeasy located at the corner of Six Mile Road and Conant Street in Detroit.<\/p>\r\n

1957 – Frozen pizza<\/strong> was introduced<\/a> in Newark, NJ\u00a0 by the Celentano brothers who owned an Italian specialty store.<\/p>\r\n

1958 – Pizza Hut, was founded in Wichita, Kansas.<\/p>\r\n

1959 – Little Caesars<\/strong>, founded at 32594 Cherry Hill Road, Garden City, Michigan. It\u2019s 2 \u00bd miles from the original Kmart<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

1960 – Domino\u2019s<\/strong> started out at 507 West Cross St. Ypsilanti, Michigan.<\/p>\r\n

1962 – Controversial “Hawaiian” pizza<\/strong>, a pizza topped with pineapple and ham, was invented in Canada<\/a> by Sam Panopoulos at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario.<\/p>\r\n

1974 – The first pizza was ordered via a computer<\/a> from Mr. Mike\u2019s in East Lansing, MI<\/a>. The large pepperoni, mushroom, ham, and sausage order required<\/a> a CDC 6500 mainframe<\/strong> computer<\/a> to complete.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1994 – The first pizza is ordered<\/a> online<\/strong>. The large pepperoni, mushroom, and extra cheese pizza was ordered on “PizzaNet<\/a>” \u2013 Pizza Hut<\/a>‘s digital ordering hub developed by<\/a> the Santa Cruz Operation<\/a> (aka SCO).<\/p>\r\n

Interesting Facts About Pizza<\/h3>\r\n

Here are some interesting facts surrounding National Pizza Day!\"Kirk<\/a>
\u2022 Over 3 Billion pizzas<\/strong> are sold in the U.S. each year.
\u2022 Every second 350 slices of pizza<\/strong> are sold in the U.S.
\u2022 Americans consume over 23 pounds of pizza<\/strong> per year.
\u2022 Pepperoni pizza<\/strong> is the most popular, preferred by 36% of the people.
\u2022 Americans consume 251.7 million pounds of pepperoni<\/strong> each year, mostly on pizza.
\u2022 30% of Americans have pizza at least once a week<\/strong>.
\u2022 19% of people love to pair their pizza with a beer<\/strong>.
\u2022 10 percent say they like to pair wine with pizza.
\u2022 More pizzas are sold on Super Bowl Sunday<\/strong>, than any other day of the year.
\u2022 Halloween<\/strong> is the second most popular day for eating pizzas.<\/p>\r\n

Pizza is so great that it has more holidays<\/h3>\r\n

\u2022 March 14th \u2013 National Pi Day
\u2022 April 5th \u2013 National Deep Dish Pizza Day
\u2022 May 15th \u2013 National Pizza Party Day
\u2022 June 11th \u2013 Pizza Margherita Day
\u2022 September 5th \u2013 National Cheese Pizza Day
\u2022 September 20th \u2013 National Pepperoni Pizza Day
\u2022 October National Pizza Month
\u2022 October 9th \u2013 International Beer & Pizza Day
\u2022 October 11th \u2013 National Sausage Pizza Day
\u2022 November 12th \u2013 National Pizza with the Works except Anchovies Day<\/p>\r\n

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