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• 1854 -- The first packaged box of Whitman's chocolate debuts.
• 1868 -- Richard Cadbury introduces the first Valentine's Day box of chocolates.
• 1880's -- Wunderle Candy Company creates candy corn.  In 1898, Goelitz Confectionery Company began making candy corn and has made this Halloween favorite longer than any other company.
• 1893 -- William Wrigley, Jr. introduces Juicy Fruit gum and Wrigley's Spearmint gum.
• 1896 -- Tootsie Rolls debut, introduced by Leo Hirshfield of New York who named them after his daughter's nickname, "Tootsie".
• 1900 -- Milton S. Hershey of Lancaster, PA introduces the first Hershey milk chocolate bar.
• 1901 -- The King Leo pure peppermint stick candy was developed and trademarked.  The stick has been in continuous production since then and is still offered today in old-fashioned gift tins with the King Leo Lion motif by its current manufacturer, Quality Candy Company, Inc.
• 1901 -- Pastel-colored little candy disks called NECCO wafers first appear named for the acronym of the New England Confectionery Company.
• 1902 -- Necco makes the first conversation hearts - tiny Valentine's Day favorites with messages printed on them.
• 1905 -- The Squirrel Brand Company of Massachusetts creates the first peanut bar.
• 1906 -- Hershey's Kisses chocolates appear in their familiar foil wraps.
• 1912 -- Life Savers, the candy named for its ring shape with the hole in the center is introduced in peppermint flavor.  It would be 22 years before the popular five-flavor roll is introduced.
• 1912 -- The Whitman's Sampler box of chocolates is born when the company president decides the needlework sampler hanging in his home would make beautiful packaging.  It is the the first box of chocolates to include a now-famous index showing the filling in each candy.
• 1913 -- Goo Goo Clusters, a Southern favorite, was the first bar to combine milk chocolate, caramel, marshmallow and peanuts.
• 1920 -- Fannie May Candies opens its first candy shop in Chicago producing a variety of chocolate enrobed buttercreams and caramels.
• 1920 -- The Baby Ruth candy bar is first sold, named for President Grover Cleveland's daughter - not the famous baseball player.
• 1921 -- Chuckles, colorful, sugared jelly candies are first made.
• 1922 -- Goldenberg's Peanut Chews are first made in Philadelphia and soon became popular along the East Coast.
• 1923 -- Mounds, the double candy bar, offered a coconut filling enrobed in chocolate.
• 1923 -- M&M/Mars Milk Way Bar is the first of many candies to be introduced by the Mars family, created to taste like a malted milk that would be available anywhere, any time.
• 1925 -- Bit-O-Honey debuts, the honey-flavored taffy bar made with bits of almond.
• 1926 -- Milk Duds are introduced as bite-size caramel morsels covered in chocolate.
• 1928 -- Crunchy Heath Bars appear, offering chocolate covered toffee.
• 1928 -- Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, named for the man who created them, are a peanut butter-chocolate combination among the most popular candy bars today.
• 1930 -- M&M/Mars introduces the Snickers Bar, named for a favorite horse owned by the Mars family.  It is the number-one selling candy bar in the U.S. today.
• 1931 -- Tootsie Roll Pops are introduced and soon widely advertised as the lollipop that offers two candies in one - flavored hard candy on the outside and chewy Tootsie Roll center inside.
• 1931 -- Valomilk, the creamy marshmallow center candy bar, was created by accident when a candymaker at Sifers Candy Company forgot about a batch of cooking marshmallow and it remained runny when cooled.  Combined with chocolate, it made a wonderful, gooey treat.
• 1932 -- MARS(r) Almond Bar introduced by M&M/MARS
• 1932 -- Katherine Beecher Butter Mints are melt-in-your mouth butter mints perfected by Katherine Beecher in her Manchester, PA candy company where they are still made today, according to the original recipe.
• 1932 -- Red Hots are made by Ferrara Pan Candy Company.  These fiery little candy pellets are flavored with cinnamon.
• 1932 -- M&M/Mars debuts the 3 Musketeers Bar, originally made as a three-flavor bar featuring chocolate, vanilla and strawberry nougat.  In 1945, it was changed to all chocolate nougat.
• 1936 -- The 5th Avenue Bar was originated by the man perhaps best known for his cough drops - William H. Luden.  It was made from layers of peanut butter crunch coated in milk chocolate.
• 1938 -- Bartons was founded, they are the maker of "Almond Kisses", two almonds surrounded by caramel.  They are now owned by Cherrydale Farms/Haddinton Farms.
• 1939 -- Hershey's Miniatures chocolate bars debut.
• 1941 -- "M&M's" Plain Chocolate Candies are introduced in response to slack chocolate sales in summer.  Fifty-nine years later, M&M/Mars changed the name of this popular candy item to "M&M's" Milk Chocolate Candies.
• 1942 - 1945 -- Women working on the Whitman's Sampler production line secretly slipped notes to soldiers in those boxes destined for military shipment.  The notes resulted in several long-term friendships and even a few marriages.
• 1949 -- Junior Mints offered soft mint centers drenched in dark chocolate.
• 1949 -- Smarties small pastel candy disks are introduced, followed by the Smarties Necklace nine years later.
• 1949 -- El Bubble Bubble Gum Cigars are the first five-cent bubble gum.  In the mid-1980s, the same company began to make pink and blue bubble gum cigars to celebrate births.
• 1954 -- Marshmallow Peeps are introduced by Just Born, Inc. in the shape of Easter chicks.  Today, Peeps come in a variety of seasonal shapes and more than 2 million Peeps are made each day.
• 1950 -- Bobs Candy Canes, sold under the Cris Cringle brand, are introduced nationwide.  Candy canes were originally created by a German choirmaster.
• 1960 -- M&M/Mars Starburst Fruit Chews are introduced and later fortified with 50 percent of the daily value for Vitamin C.
• 1960 -- Blammo becomes the first sugar free, soft bubble gum introduced by Amurol Confections.
• 1960's -- Lemonheads are created by Ferrara Pan Candy Company, later inspiring the introduction of Grapeheads, Appleheads, Orangeheads and others.
• 1963 -- SweeTarts The candy pellets with the original sweet and tart flavor combination are introduced.
• 1970 -- Snickers Munch Bar introduced by M&M/MARS.
• 1976 -- Introduced by Herman Goelitz Candy Company, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans offer consumers fun and unique flavors in a tiny jelly bean.
• 1978 -- Hershey's Reese's Pieces bite-size candies are introduced and four years later made popular by the blockbuster movie E.T.
• 1979 -- TWIX Caramel Cookie Bars introduced in the U.S. by M&M/MARS.
• 1980 -- Goelitz introduces the first American-made gummy bears and gummy worms.  Formerly, these candies were imported from Europe.
• 1981 -- A European favorite since 1974, SKITTLES Bite Size Candies are introduced in the U.S. by M&M/MARS.
• 1992 -- DOVE Dark Chocolate Bar and DOVE Milk Chocolate Bar introduced nationally by M&M/MARS.
• 1994 -- Blitz Power Mints are one of several strong mints introduced in the 1990s as the breath freshener category grows.
• 1994 -- STARBURST(r) Jellybeans introduced by M&M/MARS.
• 1996 -- Zingos, another one of several strong mint introductions, is created by Brown & Haley.
• 1998 -- Holopops become the first hologram lollipops introduced by Light Vision Confections.  The design on their etched surface appears to change as you move the pop.
• 1999 -- Sound Bites Lollipops from Cap Candies is the first radio-lollipop combination in the growing interactive candy segment.
• 2001 -- "M&M's"(r) Dulce de Leche Caramel Chocolate Candies introduced to tap into growing Latino market.