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Article: Time trip.
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- April 26, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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* Originally, chocolate was anything but a sweet treat. It was a very bitter drink first drunk by the ancient Olmec (1200-600 B.C.) and later the Maya (A.D. 250-900), who occupied what are now parts of southern Mexico and Central America. The drink was made from the crushed beans of the cacao tree native to Central and South America. It was most often flavored with chili peppers. The drink played a major role in Mayan religion and culture. The Maya even had a cacao god.
* Christopher Columbus was the first European to come in contact with cacao beans. In 1502, on his fourth and last voyage, Columbus's ship came upon a large canoe off the coast of what is now ...