Pizza has come a long way in Canada since it started going mainstream after the Second World War. Here’s a look at 10 key dates in its evolution, including foundational food inventions such as Hawaiian pizza and Pizza Pops.

In 1948, Pizzeria Napoletana opened in Montreal’s Little Italy, and Canada’s first pizzeria still makes pies today. In the early days, the pizzeria was a cultural hub for newly arrived Italian immigrants, serving two types of pizza: Margherita and marinara. Today, there are 41 pizzas on the menu. If everything goes according to plan, a rocket will take a slice of historic Pizzeria Napoletana to space by the end of the year — the first such launch from Canada in 30 years. Linda Girolamo, operations manager, partnered with family friend and rocket engineer George Defo, a PhD student in Space Concordia’s rocketry division. The engineers will place a slice of her new creation, The Rocket, in a special compartment: topped with potatoes (one of the first vegetables to travel the world), agrodolce caramelized onions and Italian sausage (to represent Italians), and a garnish of sun-dried and fried crusco peppers from Matera, a town in Basilicata, Italy.