1. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word chocolate entered the language in 1604.
2. At that time, chocolate was only consumed as a drink. We had to wait until 1847 before Joseph Fry invented the chocolate bar.
3. The Mayans in Mexico around 250AD are the earliest known to have drunk chocolate, but the Olmecs may have had it over 1,000 years before.
4. Ixcacao was the name of the Mayan goddess of the cacao tree and chocolate.
5. New Yorker Eric “Badlands” Booker holds the world record for eating two pounds of chocolate candy bars in six minutes.
6. The largest producer of cocoa is Ivory Coast at more than twice as much as second-placed Ghana.
7. A study in 2012 showed a strong correlation between a nation’s chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel Prizes it has won.
8. Each person in Britain eats an average of 9.5kg (21 pounds) of chocolate a year.
9. This year’s chocolate Easter eggs were seen in UK shops before last Christmas.
10. The average person in the UK spends £6,000 on chocolate over his or her lifetime.