100 Years of Oreos [VIDEO]

When you think 1912 and "unsinkable," you probably start thinking Titanic, but that is not what I am talking about, Willis! 100 years ago today the unsinkable, rich, cream-filled chocolate-flavored cookie, the Oreo, was born. Since the first OREO cookie was first made near Chelsea, New York, the cookie has grew to become the 20th centuries top-seller at over 491 billion . How could we not celebrate?

The history of America's Favorite Cookie

In 1898, several baking companies merged to form the National Biscuit Company (NaBisCo), the maker of Oreo cookies. By 1902, Nabisco created Barnum's Animal cookies and made them famous by selling them in a little box designed like a cage with a string attached (to hang on Christmas trees).

In 1912, Nabisco had a new idea for a cookie - two chocolate disks with a creme filling in between. The first Oreo cookie looked very similar to the Oreo cookie of today, with only a slight difference in the design on the chocolate disks.

The shape and design of the Oreo cookie didn't change much until Nabisco began selling various versions of the cookie. In 1975, Nabisco released their DOUBLE STUF Oreos. Nabisco continued to create variations:

1987 -- Fudge covered Oreos introduced,1991 -- Halloween Oreos introduced, 1995 -- Christmas Oreos introduced. Now there are more than 20 varieties and even brownies, cakes, and other snack items that carry the Oreo name.

OREO? Where did that come from?

So how did the Oreo get its name? The people at Nabisco aren't quite sure. Some believe that the cookie's name was taken from the French word for gold, "or" (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for mountain, "oreo." Still others believe the name is a combination of taking the "re" from "cream" and placing it between the two "o"s in "chocolate" - making "o-re-o." And still others believe that the cookie was named Oreo because it was short and easy to pronounce.

Happy birthday Oreo!

At 100 years young, OREO is asking the world to put down the cellphones, close the laptops and take a moment to celebrate the kid inside you by inspiring and collecting moments of slowed down, carefree fun.

At Oreo.com/birthday, and on the OREO Facebook page, you can share how you’ve let your inner child free by posting a photo, story or video to the OREO Moments Gallery.

The “Million Moments Meter” will track submissions, one moment at a time, so fans can see what others are doing all around the world.