Pizza has to be one of the best dishes in the world! It's simple, versatile, and you can throw it like a frisbee! But you won't want to waste any delicious pizza after reading our incredible pizza facts! Ever wondered when pizza was first made? Or what the Swedes put on theirs? Or how many pizzas are sold every year? Wonder no more! And if this has got you hungry for more, check out our Pizza Jokes! Or how about these tasty Chocolate Facts? Or why not test your tastebuds with this epic Healthy Eating Quiz!

1. Pizza is from Italy

Pizza is popular all over the world, but originally, it comes from Italy! It's evolved from a simple flatbread over the years, and tomato sauce was added in the 18th century!

2. The ancient Romans had a form of pizza

Although it's not exactly what we would call pizza today, the ancient Romans did have a similar dish, called Staititai, which used seasame seeds and honey rather than cheese and tomato.

3. Pizza originated in Naples

The home of pizza in Italy is Naples, where the famous writer Alexander Dumas once observed that it's all they eat there in the winter! To qualify as a real Napoli pizza, the tomatoes used have to be grown on local volcanic planes!

4. Other ancient cultures also had food like pizza

Ancient Greeks and Egyptian's also enjoyed eating Staititai, and other ancient cultures also had similar flat bread dishes, adding spices, herbs and olives to give it some flavour. In fact, different types of flatbread are popular all over the world!

5. The origin of the name is unclear

Pizza is Italian for 'pie', but it's unclear exactly where it comes from. It was first recorded as early as 997AD, which means it's been around for a LONG time!

6. Pizza toppings are different all over the world

Cheese and tomato is the classic Italian way, but over time, people all over the world have added their own favourite toppings and flavours to the dish. In India, paneer cheese is often used, and in Canada people like to pile their toppings as high as possible, while Koreans like to add wasabi and sweet potato to theirs!

7. Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world

Billions of pizzas are ordered and eaten every year all over the world - in America over 90% of people have pizza at least once a month, while over 300 slices are consumed every second in the states!

8. The biggest ever pizza was over 1,200 square metres!

According to the Guiness Book of Records, the largest ever recorded pizza was made in Rome, Italy in 2012, and had a total surface area of 1261.65 square metres! It was called 'Ottavia' after a Roman emperor, and was gluten free!

9. Americans have their own pizza

American pizza is probably the most famous after Italian pizza - Italian immigrants in the 19th century brought it over, and over time many different styles developed in different parts of the states, including New York Style, Chicago Deep Dish, Detroit Style and New England Greek Style!

10. The first pizzeria dates back to 18th century

The first recorded pizzeria was found in Naples, Italy in 1738. Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba started life as a street stall for passers-by to pick up food, but it officially opened as a pizzeria in 1830, along with their special pizza ovens. Obviously they must have spent 100 years perfecting the recipe!

11. Scotland has 6 of the best pizza places in the world

Scotland is another country with a big Italian immigrant community, and as such you can get some of the best Italian food there! In 2016, 6 Scottish pizzerias were ranked among the highest in the world - not bad for such a small country!

12. Pizza got popular in the USA after WW2

Italian immigrants have been making pizza in the USA since they arrived, but it wasn't until soldiers returning from Italy after WW2 wanted to eat more of the dish they'd found in Italy that it really kicked off there! Now pizza is one of the US's favourite dishes.

13. The world's most expensive pizza costs $12,000

Yup, you read that right! Named the 'Louis XIII', after the French king, this pizza's ingredients includes caviar, lobster and prawns, and comes with complimentary champagne. You'd hope so, after paying 12k for it!

14. Scotland does deep fried pizza

Scotland has lots of good pizza restaurants, but if you really want to make your heart murmur, you can't beat a good chippie deep fried pizza. It's pretty much what it says on the tin, and yes, it's VERY bad for you.

15. Pizza sales go up during the super bowl

The superbowl is one of the most important events in the USA's sporting calander, and draws in about 100 million viewers! It's so popular that pizza sales soar during the game, with Dominoes alone selling about 2 million!

16. October is National Pizza Month in the US

If you love pizza so much that you want a whole month about it - good news! In the USA, October is National Pizza Month! The month is largely celebrated by, you guessed it, eating a lot of pizza! Other events include competitions, giveaways and pizza making classes.

17. Tomato sauce is good for you

Pizza isn't generally the most healthy food in the world, but one ingredient does contain a surprising amount of goodness. Tomato sauce (Especially fresh tomato sauce, not out of a jar!) contains lots of essential vitamins from tomatoes, and contains lycopene, an antioxidant which can help with heart health. Quick, tell your mum!

18. Dominos delivers over a million pizzas a day

Dominoes opened in 1960, in Michigan, and since then it's delivered a LOT of pizzas - a million a day, in fact! Probably not all to the same person, though.

19. A calzone is a folded pizza

Yup, the cat's out of the bag - a calzone is basically what happens when you fold a pizzas in half! It's just as old as the pizza, and makes a more portable snack, a bit like a Cornish pasty!

20. Pizza rat is a famous meme

You may know Pizza Rat from your internet travels - in 2015, a video went viral of a rat dragging a big slice of pizza down the steps of the New York subway. His determination warmed the hearts of millions! The Subway has another link to pizza - apparently the prices of Subway tickets and pizza slices are always the same! It's an economic theory called the 'Pizza Principle'

21. America's oldest pizza place is still open

It's called Lombardi's, and it opened in New York in 1905. It's been officially recognised as the oldest pizzeria in the USA by the Pizza Hall of Fame (Yes, that's a real thing)

22. Chicago has its own type of pizza

You may have heard of Chicago deep dish pizza - why is it different? Well, the traditional Chicago style is more like an actual pie that a pizza - a thick, deep crust with plenty of room for lots of toppings. Sadly we don't exactly who created it, but we're very grateful!

23. You can get dessert pizzas

The good thing about pizza is its versatility - the possibilities are endless! Over the years, dessert style pizza has become popular, sometime using doughnut dough or sweetened bread and topping it with nutella, marshmallows, fruit and other delicious things. In fact, ancient pizzas often included sweet ingredients like honey!

24. Pizza doesn't have to be unhealthy

Pizza hasn't got a great reputation, but it doesn't HAVE to be unhealthy! Made with a thing, wholemeal dough and topped with lots of fresh vegetables, pizza can be a great way to get lots of nutrients, vitamins and fibre!

25. Half of people in the UK like pineapple on pizza

Pineapple on pizza has always been a bit controversial, so it's no surprise that the split in the UK is 50/50. Our most popular topping? Mushrooms, with ham a close second!

26. There is a pizza superhero movie

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's some pizza! In 2011 a movie called Pizza Man came out, all about a pizza delivery guy who gains superpowers from a genetically modified tomato and saves the world!

27. Pizza has been eaten in space

In fact, it's eaten fairly regularly at the International Space station! In 2001 a Russian cosmonaut became the first person to eat pizza in space, and Pizza Hut delivery it! Not on a moped though - in a resupply rocket.

28. There is a World Pizza Championships

Of course there is! It started in 1991 and usually takes place in Italy, where people compete for a chance to be one of the worlds top pizza makers! One chef, Tony Gemignani, has won 13 times!

29. Philadelphia has a pizza museum

It's called Pizza Brain, and it has one of the largest collections of pizza themed memorabilia in the world! And yes, don't worry - you can also eat pizza there.

30. In Japan mayonnaise is a popular topping

In fact, it's so popular it's called a Mayo Jaga pizza, and is also topped with corn, onion and potato. Occasionally, they also put squid on there too!

31. In France they put fried eggs on their pizzas

Not to be outdone, the French also have their own special topping - fried eggs! The French love adding eggs to dishes, so why not pizza? Hey, it works!

32. Billions of pizzas are sold worldwide every year

We really can't overstate just how much the world loves pizza! Probably because it's simple and can be accessorised any way you like!

33. Mozzarella is scientifically the best pizza cheese

Yes, they've done the science, and naturally, mozzarella has been declared the best cheese for pizza! This makes sense - it's one of the only cheeses that gets nice and stringy and stretchy when it melts!

34. The origin of the Margherita is unknown

The story goes that Queen Margherita of Italy visited Naples in the 19th century, and chose the basil, tomato and mozzarella pizza as her favourite, but there's no way of verifying this story! It's cool though, and the name definitely works!

35. In Brazil green peas are a common topping

When you think of Brazil, maybe peas aren't the first thing to spring to mind, but that's what they love putting on their pizzas!

36. There are millions of ways to create a Dominoes pizza

Dominoes has lots of different toppings available - so many, in fact, that there are literally millions of potential ways you could decorate it!

37. Pizza was one of the first things you could buy online

Once upon a time, the internet was just a place to send emails and talk to a giant paperclip, and you couldn't buy anything online. But one of the first things you COULD buy was pizza, when Pizza hut started making online deliveries available in 1994! Phew!

38. In Italy there are laws about what makes an authentic pizza

The Italians are very protective of what makes a real, authentic Italian pizza. If you want your pizza to count, it has to follow a few rules - it must be fresh, not frozen, it must be eaten as soon as it's ready, it must be made by a pizza expert, and it must be cooked in a woodfired oven. If your pizza follows all those rules then congratulations! You've made a real Italian pizza! If not, we're sure it tastes good anyway!

39. Pizzas were originally square

It sounds crazy, but yes, square! Actually, that makes more sense, it can be made in large batches and easily sold on the street by the slice. Traditional Sicilian pizza is also square, and is often made with foccacia bread.

40. Saturday night is the most common pizza night

When's the best time to eat pizza? Saturday night, apparently! Yup, the most common time for people to enjoy the 'za is saturday nights!

41. Pizza Express was founded in 1965

Pizza Express started in Soho, London, and is one of the UK's longest running chains!

42. Pepperoni is the most popular US topping

Unsurprisingly, pepperoni comes out as number 1 in the US. Another Italian import, pepperoni is a staple food in many US households, so why not put it on pizza too?

43. Women are more likely to order vegetable toppings than men

Look, we don't know why, but apparently it's true - women order more veg toppings than men on their pizzas. It's a mystery for the ages!

44. The pizza saver was invented in the 70s

If you've ever wanted to thank someone for the lid of your pizza box not getting sqaushed into your pizza toppings, now you can! Two seperate people came up with the 'pizza saver', (a little bit of plastic that stops the box getting on the pizza) Claudio Daniel Troglia of Argentina, and Carmela Vitale from the USA.

45. In Sweden they put banana on pizza

The toppings just get weirder! Yes, apparently the Swedes like to add banana to their pizza! They also like to add curry powder to make it spicy! A spicy banana pizza...yum?

46. And in Germany they like tuna

The Germans love canned tuna on their pizza, along with other meat and vegetables, and you can find it all over the country.

47. Hawaiian pizza is actually Canadian

Wil the pineapple pizza controversy never end? Yes, it's true, Canada invented the 'Hawaiian' pizza - named because that's where pineapples are grown. It also includes ham and bacon as a topping, which is much more Candian.

48. Norwegians love pizza

We know the USA goes pizza crazy, but coming up close behind them is Norway! Pizza is eaten all over Norway, and their most popular frozen brand is called 'Grandiosa' and on average every Norwegian eats at least 5 Grandiosas a year!

49. There's a pizza perfume

If you really, really, REALLY love pizza, you can smell like it. Pizza Hut brought out a perfume in 2012, and perfumers Demeter did the same recently! Apparently they smell like dough, oregano, mozzarella and oregano. Well, there are worse things to smell of!

50. A Glaswegian pizza chef makes pizza portraits

If you ever wanted to eat a celebrities face, just go to Domenico Crolla in Glasgow! He makes incredible pizza portraits that look like photographs, and probably better than our attempt.