National Candy Day Timeline

1817

Butterscotch

In a town called Doncaster in Yorkshire, England, a man named Samuel Parkinson began making butterscotch as a hard candy.

1883

Saltwater taffy

New Jersey shop owner David Bradley's candy store flooded due to a major storm. Because of this storm, he began calling his taffy "saltwater taffy."

1941

M&M's

M&M's were invented by Forrest Mars, who got the idea by watching soldiers eating chocolate pellets with a hard shell during the Spanish Civil War. The chocolates had hard shells so the soldiers could carry them during warm weather.

1960

Starburst

Starburst candies were invented in the UK by Peter Phillips and were originally called Opal Fruits.