Even though there are a variety of pizza-related holidays, including National Pizza Pie Day, National Deep Dish Pizza Day, National Cheese Pizza Day, and National Pepperoni Pizza Day, this holiday is the only one with a social aspect built into it. On National Pizza Party Day—a day that falls on the third Friday of every May—people are encouraged to gather some friends and/or family and have a good old-fashioned pizza party—the tastiest of all parties a person can throw.

The History of Pizza

Since it’s currently unknown who invented National Pizza Party Day, we thought we’d do a deep dive into the history of pizza itself. Although not everyone may realize it, pizza is actually a storied food that’s been around for a very long time indeed. In fact, some people believe that the bread made by the Ancient Greeks thousands of years ago was actually the first pizza ever made. That makes sense considering that these bread dishes were often covered in olive oil, herbs, cheese, and other ingredients. That sure sounds like a pizza to us.

The Greeks weren’t the only ancient people who had a pizza-like food, however. The Romans also made a pastry that was topped with honey and cheese and flavored with bay leaves. Those didn’t resemble modern pizzas, however. What we would call the beginning of the first modern pizzas were probably developed in the 18th century. These were called Neapolitan Flatbread and they were extremely popular in Naples, Italy, around that time.

Eventually, pizza would migrate to America thanks to Italian immigrants during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They brought this iconic food with them, but it was mainly only available in neighborhoods such as Little Italy in New York City and The Hill Neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri.

Although there wasn’t much demand for pizza from the early 1900s to the late 1930s, World War II eventually changed that fact. That’s because returning U.S. GI soldiers who were stationed in Italy and got a chance to taste the local cuisine brought their newfound love of pizza with them. The rest is, as they say, history, and now pizza parlors can be found all over the U.S.

How to Observe National Pizza Party Day

National Pizza Party Day is a holiday that’s easy enough to celebrate. All a person has to do is gather a few people together and then serve some pizza. Teachers can throw their students their very own pizza party, parents can throw a pizza party for their children, or friends can come together and enjoy some pizza together. This is also a good day for people to take pizza to work with them, buy someone they love a pizza, or use the hashtag #NationalPizzaPartyDay on their social media accounts. So grab some friends and family, along with a couple of pizza pies, and let’s have a pizza party!