We now know when the very first pizza was delivered and it’s way before we thought!

Pizza delivery is the world’s best invention, but when this brilliant innovation occurred has always been a mystery, until now. If you’re like us, you assumed it all started around the time cars were invented. (You’d also speculate “getting pizza quicker” was the impetus for inventing cars in the first place.) It turns out, we were way off, this obsession with pizza, and having it delivered actually dates back to the late 1800’s.

But before we look at pizza delivery, let’s do a review on pizza itself. Did you know this perfect food was initially developed as cheap food choice that could be consumed quickly for the working class in the mid-1800s?

Laughably, this eating habit was considered “disgusting” by the upper class.

So how did pizza become so popular it’s now the number one food that is delievered? Well, as legend has it, in 1889, Queen Margherita of Italy was visiting Naples and had grown tired of eating “fancy” meals.

One night, she demanded a meal fit for a commoner.

And, as FoodandWine.com reports, the famed pizza chef Raffaele Esposito was ordered to bring his cheesy creations to the royals.

Esposito and his wife quickly began making a pizza inspired by the Italian flag, with white mozzarella, green basil, and red tomatoes. (Pizza aficionados will note, those are the exact toppings for what’s now called a Margherita pizza. You see where this is going…)  Anyway, the moment the pizza came out of the oven, it was rushed over to the Queen, and delivered to her by hand. Thus, completing the first pizza delivery in history.

Queen Margherita took one bite and deemed it to be one of the best meals she’d ever had.

A few days later, Esposito received a letter from the Queen saying the pizza was delicious. Understandably, Esposito to decided the pizza would forever be called the “Margherita Pizza”, after the Queen and her rave review. Interesting fact: the pizza shop Esposito once owned, Pizzeria Brandi, is still operating in Naples!

So there you have it. The first delivery was in 1889, before cars, planes, and voting rights for women in the US! While we ponder that, let’s order pizza.