What is a Twix, anyway?

Is the Snickers bar named after an animal? 12 candy names explained

Image: Denny Müller

If you have never seen a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or an Almond Joy but only read the name, chances are that you would be able to form an idea of the product. But this is not always the case with candies and candy bars. Many of these delicious treats have names that do not seem to have any logical connection with their contents. But they do have it. Take a look at the following 12 famous examples. Did you know about any of these?

Image: Shyam Mishra

The Snickers bar, introduced by the Mars, Inc. company in 1930, was named after the Mars family's favorite horse. Snickers lived on their farm and was dearly loved.

Sadly, the horse passed away shortly before the candy bar's release, so naming the bar after him served as a tribute to their cherished companion.

Image: Justin

The name Kit Kat traces back to the 18th-century Kit-Cat Club in London, which itself was named after Christopher Catling, a pastry chef nicknamed "Kit Cat."

Rowntree's, the company that launched the bar in the 1930s, chose the name to give it a touch of history and sophistication.

Image: Irfan Zaini

M&M’s stands for Mars and Murrie, the last names of the candy’s creators. Forrest Mars of the Mars Company teamed up with Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey’s president, and the delicious, colorful candies were born.

Image: Alexander Schimmeck

Starburst got its name to reflect the candy’s bold, fruity flavors, like a burst of flavor in every bite.

Originally launched in the UK in 1960 as Opal Fruits, it was renamed Starburst for the U.S. release in 1967, likely to create a more dynamic, space-age image during the height of the space race.

Image: Steffen Rehfuß

Sour Patch Kids were originally called Mars Men when they debuted in the 1970s, playing off the era’s fascination with space.

When introduced in the U.S. in 1985, the name changed to Sour Patch Kids to tap into the Cabbage Patch Kids craze. The new name also highlights the candy’s signature sour-then-sweet taste.

Image: Cemrecan Yurtman

The 3 Musketeers bar got its name in 1932 from its original trio of flavors: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Each bar came in three separate pieces, echoing the "three" theme.

The name also nodded to the popular novel The Three Musketeers. During World War II, rising costs of sugar and fruit led to the discontinuation of strawberry and vanilla, leaving only chocolate—the version we still enjoy today.

Image: Alan Pope

The Milky Way bar was named after a popular malted milk drink from the 1920s, not the galaxy.

The name was meant to suggest a creamy, rich flavor, echoing the appeal of the drink that inspired it.

Image: Jonathan J. Castellon

Skittles were named after the old European game of skittles, similar to bowling. The candy's round shape was the connection with the original game.

First produced in the UK in 1974 by a British distributor for Mars, Inc., the name was likely chosen to convey fun and flavor variety.

Image: Erik Mclean

The PayDay bar got its name because it was first made on—yes, you guessed it—a payday at the Hollywood Candy Company. The timing inspired the name, which stuck.

Introduced in 1932 during the Great Depression, it was marketed as an affordable, energy-packed snack. With its combination of peanuts and caramel, it offered real substance, which can be a metaphor for a little "payday" in candy form.

Image: Louis Hansel

Anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the Baby Ruth bar was named after baseball legend Babe Ruth—but that’s not the case. The candy does indeed sound like it could honor the sports icon, but the Curtiss Candy Company claimed otherwise.

They stated that it was named after Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland.

Image: NATasha Nguyen

The 100 Grand bar was originally called the $100,000 Bar, inspired by quiz shows with big prizes, such as The $64,000 Question.

In the mid-1980s, Nestlé renamed it 100 Grand, likely to ease trademark issues and generate a greater appeal by simplifying the name.

Image: Petr Magera

The name Twix is a blend of the words "twin" and "sticks," referring to its two chocolate-covered biscuit bars. It was first released in the UK in 1967 under the name Raider.

When introduced in the U.S. in 1979, the bar was renamed Twix. The twin-bar design later inspired the playful "Left vs. Right Twix" advertising campaign.

Calendar mysteries

Were you born on this rare date? Only 1 in 1,461 people were

Most of us think we know the calendar pretty well, and if we don’t, our phones are there to remind us of dates and events. But the way humans measure the passage of time hasn’t always been the same. From the origins of month names to the truth behind leap years, today we’re going to share 10 surprising facts you probably didn’t know about the calendar.

The probability of being born on February 29 is 1 in 1,461. Although birthdays on this date are rare, people born on it even have a name: leaplings. Leaplings officially get to celebrate their birthday on February 29 only once every four years, but what happens in the other years? While some people prefer not to jump to another month, March 1st is considered more astronomically accurate, as it comes directly after February 28.

The Earth’s orbit is elliptical, which means there are times when we are closer to the Sun and other times when we are farther away. In January, Earth is at its closest point to the Sun, known as "perihelion." You might wonder how we can be closer to the Sun during winter, but the seasons are caused by Earth’s tilt, not by our distance from the Sun. On the other hand, the month when we are farthest from the Sun is July, and this point in the orbit is called "aphelion."

Due to its particularly short duration, February is the only month that can lack a full moon. Lunar cycles are 29.5 days long, which means that, approximately every 19 years, February has all the lunar phases except the full moon. When this happens, both January and March have two full moons, with the second one being called a "Blue Moon"; and that's why, when we say "once in a blue moon," we're talking about something that happens very rarely. The next time this will happen will be in the year 2037.

Did you know that our calendar has a name? That’s right; most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582 as a reform of the older system.

The main difference lies in how leap years are handled. The previous system, known as the Julian calendar, added a leap year every four years, assuming a year lasted exactly 365.25 days. However, a real solar year is slightly shorter. To fix this, the Gregorian calendar keeps leap years every four years with one exception: century years (like 1900) are not leap years unless they are divisible by 400 (such as 2000).

But before the Julian calendar, ancient Rome used an even older system with one key difference: it had only 10 months. This calendar began in March and ended in December, totaling just 304 days. What about the remaining days? They were considered a winter gap and simply weren’t counted. Around 700 BC, January and February were added to fill that gap, and these changes were later standardized under Julius Caesar’s reform in 45 BC, when he introduced the Julian calendar.

The names also come directly from life in ancient Rome, where months were named in honor of deities and important festivities. For example, March was named Martius after Mars, the god of war, because it marked the start of the military campaigning season. Aprilis, the Roman name for April, comes from the Latin verb aperire, meaning "to open," in reference to the arrival of spring. May was named Maius after Maia, the goddess of fertility and growth, and June was named Iunius in honor of Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage.

What about the rest of the months? From July through December, they were originally named after their position in the year. Since March was considered the first month, July was called Quintilis ("the fifth"), August was Sextilis ("the sixth"), September comes from septem, meaning "seven" in Latin, October from octo ("eight"), November from novem ("nine"), and December from decem ("ten").

Most of these names remained similar, with two exceptions: Quintilis was renamed Iulius to honor Julius Caesar after his death, and Sextilis became Augustus, in honor of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor.

The days of the week are no exception to Roman tradition. Sunday was named dies Solis ("day of the Sun"), Monday was dies Lunae ("day of the Moon"), Tuesday was called dies Martis (day of Mars), Wednesday dies Mercurii (day of Mercury), Thursday dies Iovis (day of Jupiter), Friday dies Veneris (day of Venus), and finally, Saturday was dies Saturni (day of Saturn).

As you may have noticed, only Saturday retained its Roman root, while Sunday and Monday kept their meaning but were translated. What happened to the rest? They were influenced by Norse mythology, resulting in Tuesday being named for Tyr, a Norse god of war; Wednesday after Woden (Odin), the Norse interpretation of Mercury; Thursday from Thor, the god of thunder, replacing Jupiter; and Friday from Freya, a Norse goddess linked to the Roman Venus.

In the United States, Sunday is considered the start of the week. This tradition has religious and cultural roots, and it’s shared by many parts of the world, but not all of them. In fact, several other English-speaking countries do it differently: places like England, Australia, and parts of Canada consider Monday the first day of the week, with Sunday closing it out.