Pizza was invented in its modern form in Naples, Italy, in the 1800s. The dish evolved from earlier flatbreads with toppings, but the recognizable pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and toppings was first created around 1889. This modern pizza, called Margherita, was made by Raffaele Esposito and named in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy, featuring ingredients representing the Italian flag colors: red (tomato), white (mozzarella), and green (basil).
The word "pizza" itself was first documented much earlier, in 997 AD, in Italy, but the modern pizza as known today dates primarily to the 19th century in Naples.
