© iStock

Ancient origins - Pie dates back to ancient Egypt.

© iStock

Ancient origins - According to What's Cooking America, historians found that pie can be traced back to the Neolithic Period around 6000 BCE.

© iStock

Open pies -

Early forms of pies were open-topped and free-formed by hand. They are known as galettes.

© Shutterstock

A dish fit for a king - Drawings of galettes can be found etched on the tomb walls of Ramses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BCE.

© iStock

The Greeks - It is believed that the ancient Greeks invented pie pastry.

© iStock

The Greeks - According to Pie Council, ancient Greek pie pastry was solely used for the purpose of holding the filling while it cooked. Pastry was the original baking dish or cake tin.

© iStock

The Greeks - The pastry also came in handy as a storage container so the food could be kept or taken elsewhere.

© iStock

The Romans - After the Romans conquered Greece, they took the local recipes and spread the word about pie via the Roman Road.

© iStock

The Romans -

What's Cooking America reports that a Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato loved pie so much that he recorded the recipe for the era’s most popular pie/cake, called placinta.

© Public Domain

The Romans -

Placinta was a cheesecake-like dish, and modern forms exist today.

© Shutterstock

17th-century Europe - While enjoying a lavish dinner hosted by the Duchess of Buckingham, King Charles I and his young wife, Henrietta Maria of France, were presented with a pie.

© Getty Images

17th-century Europe - According to The Vintage News, Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf of Queen Henrietta Maria, popped out of the pie, dressed as a knight. He was just 1 ft 6 in tall.

© Getty Images

17th-century Europe - Queen Henrietta was amused by the gesture and requested that Hudson join her entourage. Hudson became a resident of the Queen's Denmark House, alongside two other dwarfs. It was a custom of European courts of the time to keep people with growth conditions for amusement.

© iStock

17th-century Europe - Hudson was later dubbed Lord Minimus and would remain a close acquaintance of Queen Henrietta Maria for the next 18 years.

© iStock

Medieval pies - Early medieval pie crusts were discarded and given to the poor after the content was eaten. According to Everything Pies, the crust was called a coffin and had to be several inches thick to withstand many hours of cooking.

© iStock

Medieval pies - The pies of that era were usually filled with beef, lamb, wild duck, or pigeon.

© iStock

The Pilgrims - The Pilgrims who colonized America brought pie recipes with them.

© Getty Images

The Pilgrims -

According to Everything Pies, pumpkin pie was first recorded in an English cookbook dating back to 1675. It is believed that the recipe originated from spiced and boiled squash.

© Shutterstock

Pastry - Food historians trace the origins of pastry to ancient Mediterranean baklava.

© iStock

Pastry - According to Food Timeline, crusaders brought the recipe to medieval Europe.

© iStock

As American as apple pie -

The saying "As American as apple pie" couldn't be further from the truth.

© Shutterstock

As American as apple pie -

Like many American traditions, apple pie originated in England.

© Shutterstock

As American as apple pie -

According to Everything Pies, apple pies were originally made with unsweetened apples and surrounded by a hard, inedible pie crust.

See also: Live and let pie!

© Shutterstock