February 9 brings a double delight: National Pizza Day and Chocolate Day (as celebrated during Valentine’s Week in India). One is savoury, one is sweet, and both have stories that stretch across centuries and continents.
🍕 National Pizza Day Hard to believe, but before World War II, pizza was barely known outside Italy or Italian immigrant neighbourhoods. Its true birthplace is Naples, where the city’s working poor — the lazzaroni — needed cheap, quick, filling food. Flatbreads topped with tomatoes, cheese, garlic, anchovies, and oil became the perfect solution.
In 1889, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited Naples and sampled several pizzas from Pizzeria Brandi. The queen’s favourite featured tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil — the colours of the Italian flag — and the Margherita pizza was born.
Even with royal approval, pizza stayed mostly a Neapolitan specialty until the 1940s. But across the Atlantic, Neapolitan immigrants were already baking their flatbreads in New York and other American cities. What started as comfort food for factory workers quickly captured the imagination (and appetite) of the entire country. Today, pizza is a global superstar — from wood‑fired classics to deep‑dish, thin crust, and everything in between.
🍫 Chocolate Day Also on February 9, India celebrates Chocolate Day, part of Valentine’s Week — a day when couples exchange chocolates as a symbol of sweetness and affection.
Chocolate’s history stretches back 2,500 years to the Aztecs, who believed the god Quetzalcoatl gifted them liquid chocolate. Cocoa beans were so valuable they were used as currency. Back then, chocolate was a bitter drink; sugar didn’t enter the picture until Europeans added it in the 16th century, transforming chocolate into the treat we know today.
By the 19th and early 20th centuries, iconic brands like Cadbury, Hershey’s, and Nestlé were born, helping chocolate evolve from a luxury to a global industry. Today it’s a drink, a bar, a dessert, a flavouring — and a universal love language.
Whether you’re celebrating with a slice, a square, or both, here’s your Tillsonburg fuel update:
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Pioneer: $124.6
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Esso: $122.9
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Shell: $124.6
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Petro Canada: $124.6
A full tank pairs well with pizza runs, chocolate cravings, and everything in between.
