In 1847, in England, Joseph Fry, a British chocolatier, is said to have invented the first chocolate bar… although it’s likely other iterations existed at the time. Throughout history, chocolate was used for drinking, if not hard-to-make beverage enjoyed for health and vitality, and as a curative for a litany of ailments. When Fry molding a chocolate paste into solid bars, he created a new use for chocolate: a fun food that would later become America’s most loved candy flavor. Another invention moved the chocolate world ahead. That happened in 1879 when Rodolphe Lindt, now best known for the Lindt chocolate company, created another important device: the conching machine (so called because the earliest machines resembled a conch shell). While so- called eating chocolate had been gritty and rough, Lindt churned the paste made from cacao seeds into a smooth blend perfect for rich, creamy chocolate bars. Chocolate bars may have been fun food but, as time went on, became critical to survival of explorers, adventurers, and, above all, the military. Want to know more?