Started by the Salvation Army in Chicago in 1938, the day honors “donuts,” which served as treats for soldiers on the front lines during World War I.
Donuts have existed long before World War I, and we have the Dutch to thank for their existence. The Dutch made “olykoek,” which can be translated as oily cake. The first Dutch donuts did not have holes but were fried in hot oil and the dough was sweet.
It was in 1847 that the holey donut we know and love today appeared. Hanson Gregory, only 16 years old at the time, claimed the credit. Tired of donuts with a raw center, he used a pepper shaker to make holes in the middle of the doughnut to help them cook more evenly.
In 1920, Adolph Levitt, a Russian living in New York, invented a donut machine. Thirteen years later, donuts were proclaimed the “Food of Success of the Century of Progress” by the Chicago World’s Fair.
Many donut shops, including national chains like Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme, are giving away free donuts this Friday (2) or offering discounts to celebrate the occasion.
Numbers
• 10 billion – the number of donuts made in the U.S. each year.
• 10 – the number of people living in America with ‘Donut’ as their last name.
• 13 – the number of people who have ‘Donut’ as their first name.
• 2480 – the city of Boston has one donut shop for every 2,480 people.
• 20 – the number of donuts Renée Zellweger ate every day to gain weight for the sequel to “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
• 9 – the Guinness World Record for the number of donuts eaten in three minutes.
• 201.02 million – the number of donuts consumed by Americans in 2020.
• 100,000 – the number of donuts produced by Entenmann’s every hour.
• 3,660 – the number of donuts needed to reach the top of the Statue of Liberty.
• 55 million – the number of donuts needed to go from Long Beach, California, to Long Island, New York.
The 10 Favorite Donut Chains in America
#1: Krispy Kreme (41%)
#2: Dunkin’ Donuts (40%)
#3: Shipley Donuts (4%)
#4: Tim Hortons (3%)
#5: Voodoo Donuts (3%)
#6: Day Light Donuts (3%)
#7: Entenmann’s Donuts in my own kitchen (3%)
#8: Winchell’s Donuts (2%)
#9: Lamar’s Donuts (1%)
#10: Honey Dew Donuts (1%)
Source: CNN and Nationaltoday