The wild varieties of chili and bell peppers are native to the earth's tropical vegetation zone and have their roots in Central and South America. There, near Mexico City, the inhabitants picked chilies for the first time in 6500 BC and later cultivated them. At that time chilies were used by the natives as a spice and a vegetable and they were subsequently even accepted as currency in the region surrounding Peru.
The bird's eye chili, also known as tepin, is considered the original form of chili. This variety is very hot and bears only small fruits. Since the receptors of birds are differently structured than those of human beings, birds can't sense the hotness. The name bird's eye probably originated in regard to the red color of the original chili that drew the birds to spot it, eat it and as a result of the long flights that birsd took to search for it, spread it as far as Central America.
Its way to Europe was verifiably paved by Christopher Columbus. He was traveling with the mission to find a sea route to India for the Spanish royal house in order to crush the pepper monopoly in Venice. He didn't find a route to India, but rather discovered America - and he didn't bring pepper back with him, but rather chili. Columbus was, however, not aware of the latter, and so it came to be that he mistakenly gave the chili plant the name "pimienta", after the Sapnish word for pepper. It was first later that the presently valid name "capsicum" was specified by his physician who was also a hobby botanist. (Capsaicin is the chemical substance that makes chilies so hot, since it has been proven to affect the receptors in humans that are responsible for feeling heatness.
Over time and with the progressive development of plant cultivation, all of the sub-varieties presently known to us were produced from the traditional chili.
