2 Answers

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1695/who-invented-pizza

Considered a peasant's meal in Italy for centuries we cannot say who invented the very first pizza pie. Food historians agree that pizza like dishes were eaten by many peoples in the Mediterranean including the Greeks and Egyptians.

However, modern pizza has been attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito of Naples. In 1889, Esposito who owned a restaurant called the Pizzeria di Pietro baked what he called "pizza" especially for the visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen Margherita.

http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/pizza.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza

Pizza (Italian pronunciation: [?pittsa], from the Latin verb pìnsere, to press) is Greek in origin. The Ancient Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs and cheese. In Byzantine Greek, the word was spelled π?τα or pita, meaning pie. The word has now spread to Turkish as pide,^[2] and Bulgarian, Croatian and Serbian as pita, Albanian as pite and Modern Hebrew pitt?h.^[3] The Romans developed placenta, a sheet of dough topped with cheese and honey and flavored with bay leaves. Modern pizza originated in Italy as the Neapolitan pie with tomato. In 1889, cheese was added.^[4]

In 1889, during a visit to Naples, Queen Margherita of Italy was served a pizza resembling the colors of the Italian flag, red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil). This kind of pizza has been named after the Queen as Pizza Margherita.^[5]

The first pizzeria in North America was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi at 53 1/3 Spring Street in New York City.

The first "Pizza Hut" a chain of pizza restaurants appeared in the United States during the 1930s.

Frozen pizza was invented by Rose Totino.

Pizza Package Saver

Have you ever wondered, "Who invented the circular thing that keeps the pizza from hitting the inside of the box top?" Well wonder no longer the package saver for pizza and cakes was invented by Carmela Vitale of Dix Hills, NY, who filed for US patent #4,498,586 on February 10, 1983, issued on February 12, 1985.

Pizza Topping Trivia

Americans eat approximately 350 slices of pizza per second. And 36 percent of those pizza slices are pepperoni slices, making pepperoni the number one choice among pizza toppings in the United States. However, in India pickled ginger, minced mutton, and paneer cheese are the favorite toppings for pizza slices. In Japan, Mayo Jaga (a combination of mayonnaise, potato and bacon), eel and squid are the favorites. Green peas rock Brazilian pizza shops and Russians love red herring pizza.

Most great dishes were invented by Italians. Why wouldn't that be the case when Michelangelo,    da Vinci, Dante, Galileo, Caravaggio, to name a few, excelled in all things else !