A 3000 years long Story

Pasta's origins are very ancient: it's said that they go back actually to the Etruscans; maybe they used to prepare the first lasagna made of spelt (a kind of cereal like wheat, but far more resistant against bad weather and diseases).
Later on, the Romans used to make a very simple dough with water and flour from which they made a kind of lasagna, called lagane. This word is used also today in the Center and in the South of Italy to call some kind of Pasta.
Anyway, we must explode the myth that it was Marco Polo who brought Pasta in Italy when he came back from China.
In fact, in 1279 a.d., when the great Venetian explorer was still in the East, in Genoa a will was draft with which a certain Ponzio Bastone bequeathed a crate full of ... maccheroni!
Certainly, we know that the Arabs, already in the XI century, brought Pasta around the Mediterranean basin, but it spread in an extraordinary way only in Italy, due to the very favourable climate.
Then, in XVII century in Naples, Pasta met Tomato, arrived in Europe after America was discovered.
This was a real gastronomic revolution, because this new joining quickly (and perhaps happily) caused the forgetfulness of those matchings bitter-sweet and sweet-salted so popular until then.
But Pasta didn't go at once onto the princes' tables, because since then it was eaten using hands. It was near the year 1700 that a chamberlain of King Ferdinand II, a certain Gennaro Spadaccini, had the brilliant idea of using a fork with 4 short prongs, that became a common practice. Since then Pasta was served also during the Courts' banquets all over Italy, and from there its world tour began.
Also USA President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was mad about Pasta and brought it (or better: made it known) in the US. His banquets were famous, where gastronomic specialities he met, and appreciated, during his journeys in Europe were served to his guests.
Then, at the beginning of last century, the first, rudimentary, machines for its mass-production started up in Naples.
Why they started up just in Naples?
Because the most important moment of its production to have an excellent product is the drying process, the environs of Naples and its hinterland, favoured by exceptional climatic conditions, were offering the ideal environment for this production.
Today modern technology allows the standardisation of Pasta production and the reproduction of the ideal climatic conditions; so Pasta production spread out in a lot of Nations.
This overall propagation makes Pasta the most known Italian food all around the world.