September 13 - International Chocolate Day

 Posted on September 13, 2021

This is an update of my post published on September 13, 2010:

Created by candy maker associations, this holiday inspires restaurants and bakeries to have special menu items or promotions—but we can celebrate it at home, too! Whether you prefer your chocolate dark, white or milk, grab a hunk of chocolate, or a cup of cocoa, or a bowl of chocolate chunk brownie-bits ice cream, or... Well, I could go on and on, but you get the idea:

Eat some chocolate today!

World Records

In Yerevan, Armenia, the world's largest chocolate bar was created in 2010 and was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The 4,410-kilogram bar (or 9,702 pounds!) was made by Grand Candy factory. Its dimensions were 560 centimeters by 275 centimeters, and it was 25 centimeters thick. (That's about 18 feet by 9 feet, and 10 inches thick.)

In 2020, the Mars company set a record for the largest chocolate nut bar - actually, a Snickers bar the size of 43,000 single-size Snickers! - but then two weeks later, that record was broken by the Hershey company! The new largest chocolate nut bar was a HUGE Reese's Take 5 candy bar:

This enormous candy bar weighed 5,943 pounds and was 9 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, and 2 feet high!

Did you know...?

White chocolate contains cocoa butter, along with milk and sugar, but it doesn't have cocoa solids. The more familiar brown forms of chocolate (including dark, semi-sweet, unsweetened, and milk chocolate) contains cocoa solids and varying amounts of cocoa butter.

Chocolate can lower blood pressure and is linked to serotonin levels in the brain, which is why it can be a feel-good food. However, one alkaloid in chocolate, theobromine, makes it poisonous for some animals, including dogs and cats.

The English word chocolate comes from the Spanish word chocolate (spelled the same way but pronounced differently). Where did the Spanish word come from? Scholars aren't sure, but it probably came from a Mayan word or a Nahuatl word. (The latter is the language spoken by the Aztecs.) Certainly the world got chocolate from Central and South America, where cacao has been grown and used at least since 1100 BC (or BCE).

Now, though, about 75% of the world's cacao bean (chocolate) supply is grown in West Africa.

Here are some kid-friendly chocolate recipes! 

Also on this date:

Roald Dahl Day 

Musician Clara Schumann's birthday

Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day

Librarians' Day in Argentina

Scooby-Doo Day

Uncle Sam Day

National Peanut Day

9x13 Day

Anniversary of the dedication of a Roman temple

Anniversary of the crowning of Mayan royalty

Day of the Programmer

(always September 13 except on Leap Years)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• October holidays
• October birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in October

September 13, 2011 - Librarian's Day

– Argentina

           and

International Chocolate Day

Give chocolates to your favorite librarian in honor of these two holidays!

Librarians are celebrated on a variety of days, depending on the nation, state, and even city. Today is the special day for librarians in the South American nation of Argentina.

You probably know that librarians are trained to organize and search for information of all kinds. That means that they tend to be experts on, not just books, but also newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals; computer databases; and audio/visual materials such as records, video recordings, maps, photographs... Some librarians have specialty expertise. Genealogical librarians, for example, can help you find out information about your ancestors.

This is the information age! With home computers (let alone smart phones, which are essentially pocket computers), almost everybody is becoming expert at finding information. However, a lot of the world's knowledge and arts aren't digitized, and even the stuff that is available on the web—well, there is an overwhelming amount of it! So, whether you are floundering in a sea of information or stuck in a dry patch, where you can't seem to find ANY information—consider going to a professional information specialist for help!

And, yes, I mean your local librarian.

By the way, there are city and county libraries, school libraries, and university libraries. Some businesses and hospitals have their own libraries. If you live in the U.S., someday visit the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. What an interesting place!

For information on International Chocolate Day, and to see a photo of the world's largest chocolate bar, see last year's post.

September 13, 2010

International Chocolate Day

Created by candy maker associations, this holiday inspires restaurants and bakeries to have special menu items or promotions—but all of us can celebrate it! Whether you prefer your chocolate dark, white or milk, grab a hunk of chocolate, or a cup of cocoa, or a bowl of chocolate chunk brownie-bits ice cream, or... Well, I could go on and on, but you get the idea:

Eat some chocolate today!

Did you know...?

In Yerevan, Armenia, the world's largest chocolate bar has been created. Certified last Saturday by the Guinness Book of World Records, the 4,410-kilogram bar (or 9,702 pounds!) was made by Grand Candy factory. Its dimensions are 560 centimeters by 275 centimeters, and it is 25 centimeters thick. (That's about 18 feet by 9 feet, and 10 inches thick.) It will be divided up and passed out for free in October.

White chocolate contains cocoa butter, along with milk and sugar, but it doesn't have cocoa solids. The more familiar brown forms of chocolate (including dark, semi-sweet, unsweetened, and milk chocolate) contains cocoa solids and varying amounts of cocoa butter.

Chocolate can lower blood pressure and is linked to serotonin levels in the brain, which is why it can be a feel-good food. However, one alkaloid in chocolate, theobromine, makes it poisonous for some animals, including dogs and cats.

The English word chocolate comes from the Spanish word chocolate (spelled the same way but pronounced differently). Where did the Spanish word come from? Scholars aren't sure, but it probably came from a Maya word or a Nahuatl word. (The latter is the language spoken by the Aztecs.) Certainly the world got chocolate from Central and South America, where cacao has been grown and used at least since 1100 BC (or BCE).

About 75% of the world's cacao bean (chocolate) supply is grown in West Africa.

Here are some kid-friendly chocolate recipes!