Bizarre Doughnut Facts

Doughnuts originated in 16th-century Holland. They were  
cooked in oil, and were so greasy that the Dutch called  
them olykoeks, or "oily cakes."  

The Pilgrims, who'd lived in Holland, bought the cakes with  
them when they came to America. Their version: a round  
doughy ball about the size of a nut - a doughnut.  

The origin of the hole in the doughnut: Captain Hanson  
Gregory, a 19th-century Maine sea captain, was eating a  
doughnut while sailing through a storm. Suddenly the ship  
rocked violently and threw him against the ship's wheel -  
impaling his cake on one of its spokes. Seeing how well  
the spoke held his cake, Gregory began ordering all of  
his cakes with holes in them.  

Doughnuts were popularized in the U.S. after the Salvation  
Army fed doughnuts - cooked in garbage pails and served on  
bayonets - to troops during World War I. Soldiers got so  
hooked on them that they were called "doughboys."  

The French have a doughnut they call pet de nonne, or  
"Nun's Fart." According to legend, a nun living in the  
abbey of Marmoutier was preparing food when she farted,  
and the other nuns laughed at her. She was so embarrassed  
that she dropped the spoonful of dough she was holding  
into a pot of boiling water - accidentally making a  
doughnut.  

Doughnut-dunking was first popularized at the Roseland Ball-  
room in the '20s, when actress Mae Murray slipped and  
accidentally thrust a doughnut into a cup of coffee.  

The glazed doughnut is almost three times as popular as  
any other type of doughnut.  

[Courtesy of Uncle John's 4-Ply Bathroom Reader]