You may not know it but today is a day that celebrates something that we started celebrating 80 years ago.
It happens every year on the first Friday in June and most Americans may not even know it despite the fact that most Americans consume the thing we celebrate on this day.
Here’s a hint. It’s round, it comes in different flavors and you could be eating one at this very moment.
Yes today is National Donut Day. A day you can free donuts. And in case you’re curious, here are a few bites of history.
The donut itself is said to be an American invention, with a man named Hanson Gregory having invented the first ring-shaped donut way back in 1847 while aboard a lime-trading ship when he was just 16 years old. So we can thank a teenager for the donut.
The day itself, National Donut Day, began in 1938 as a fund raiser for The Salvation Army in Chicago. Their goal was to help those in need during the Great Depression, and to honor the women of the Salvation Army known as "Lassies", who served doughnuts to soldiers in World War I.
In the 2nd World War, Red Cross Volunteers also gave out doughnuts, and it became routine to refer to the Red Cross girls as Doughnut Dollies.
Today, according to the statistics from the U.S. Census data and a national consumer survey, 192.87 million Americans consumed donuts every week last year
And after all these decades, National Donut Day is still a fundraiser for The Salvation Army. So, on this first Friday every June we celebrate the American donut, which is at least as American as apple pie, which you could say is just a kind of giant donut anyway.
Where to get Free donuts on National Donut Day.
(Photo credit Getty Images)