Chocolate was invented 2,000 years ago by the Maya and Aztec who lived in the tropical rainforests where cocoa trees were growing. Cocoa was first used to prepare a spicy and frothy drink by mixing cocoa seeds with various seasonings. It was not used in the rest of the
world before 1502 when Christopher Colomb brought cacao seeds back home to Spain. Spanish religious who lived in American created new recipes : they blent cocoa seeds with sugar, cinamon and vanilla. Consequently, chocolate was more sweet and was used to being served hot.
Chocolate was introduced in the French cour in 1615 when Anne of Austria got married with Louis the twelth. However, chocolate was not fashionable before 1660 when Marie-Thérèse of Spain got married with Louis the fourteenth.
It appeared in England in the middle of the 17th century and was very appreciated by the writers who got used to meeting in Chocolate Houses to exchange their ideas around a mug out of chocolate.
In 1828, the Dutch Van Houten created a machine able to press cocoa butter to obtain the cocoa powder like the one we use today.
Before the 19th century, chocolate was very expensive because it was very taxed. Then, its price was reduced, so everyone could buy it. That is why in this period many nowadays famous Belgian, French and Swiss chocolate-makers began selling chocolate.

Rodolphe Lindt : one of the most famous Swiss chocolate-makers.