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Forrest Mars came up with the idea for M & Ms during the Spanish Civil War. He realized that soldiers were looking for a taste of chocolate, but needed something that could hold up in hot weather. Mars took their request into research and eventually came up with the candy called M & Ms.
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The well known brown package of M & Ms was created in 1948 and didn't change until 2003.
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The first M&M's were not stamped with an "M" until 1950, when a bag cost only 5 cents. At that time, the M was stamped in black.
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In 1954 they came out with all brown Peanut M & Ms.
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Red, green, and yellow colors were the first official colors other then brown to be invented in peanut M & Ms in 1960.
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Red M & Ms were discontinued in the mid-70's because people were concerned that it was connected to cancer.
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Orange was not added until 1976.
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In 1980, M&M's were introduced internationally to Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
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In 1981, astronauts chose the round candy coated chocolates to go with them into space as part of their food rations.
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In 1995, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would replace the tan M&M's. Blue was the winner, replacing tan in early 1995.
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Until the debut of M&M's Minis in 1996, the candy only came in one size.
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The M&M's animated characters have taken on a life of their own. Mars introduced Green in 1997 as the first female animated character.
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In 2002, Mars solicited votes in their first ever "M&M's Global Color Vote" to add a new color from three choices: turquoise, pink, and purple. This time, purple won and was featured for limited time.
