1830's Pizzeria Port' Alba, still in business, opens in Naples. 1889 Raffaele Esposito, a Neapolitan baker, makes the world's first pizza delivery, to Italy's Queen Margherita. He names his mozzarella, tomato, and basil concoction in her majesty's honor. Another immigrant from Naples, Gennaro Lombardi, opens a pizzeria on Spring Street in New York. 1940's Returning GI's start a craze for the pizza they'd discovered abroad.
Pizza parlors take off on the East Coast.
1943 Pizzeria Uno in Chicago rocks the world with the introduction of deep-dish pizza. Oregano sales increase by 5,200 percent as pizza finds its place in the pantheon of America's favorite foods. Two brothers from Wichita State University start the Pizza Hut chain. Domino's joins the race in 1960. As O. J. Simpson flees in his Ford Bronco down L.A. freeways, Americans can't take their eyes off their TV sets.