National M&M Day

Evan-Amos / Public domain

October 13th is National M&M Day in the United States.

This is definitely one of the more commercialised days, as M&M's are a type of candy, or sweet, made by Mars. M&M's were, originally, a small piece of button shaped chocolate covered in a hard shell that now comes in a variety of colours. M&M's have the letter "M" printed on them and now includes similar products such as chocolate covered peanuts.

M&M's are not originally an American creation. They are based on the British Smarties; chocolate covered in a hard shell to prevent it from melting. Smarties in one form or another, and one name or another, have been around since at least 1882. Mars took the idea and, in 1941, made the very similar M&M; the branding was added to it later. British soldiers were seen eating Smarties and, indeed, the biggest initial customer for M&M's was the U.S. Army, as they were a way to allow soldiers to carry chocolate into tropical climates without melting.