There have been many inventions that have helped mankind such as the wheel, paper, and the airplane. And then, there’s candy.

Candy may not be as important as wheel or paper. But, there is something about candy that makes a lot of people happy.

Candy had to be invented and hasn’t always been around. If we look at drawings from the past we can see that people enjoyed sweet treats for thousands of years.

The ancient Egyptians baked cakes sweetened with honey. Ancient Romans had sweet treats like Dulcia, made by stuffing nuts into fruits and cooking them in honey.

However, in ancient India, they had something special. It wasn’t until other cultures started visiting India that this new kind of sweet treat became known worldwide. It was called ‘‘khanda’’ which is where our word candy comes from.

The ancient Indians were using a plant called sugarcane that the visitors had never seen before. By squishing the plant you could get a sweet juice out of it. When the juice is boiled and allowed to dry, it hardens into tiny crystals. The Indians called the juice ‘‘sharkara’’ and that’s how we get the word sugar. Other people began taking this sugar to their country and making their own versions of candy.

Soon factories had to keep up with how much candy people wanted which may seem weird to us now. People were so excited about candy that they thought maybe it could even cure certain illnesses. Since that time, we have learned that candy isn’t medicine. In fact, eating too much candy is not good for you.

So, that’s the story of how candy came to be.