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(CNN) - The first Friday in June, June 5, 2020, is National Donut Day in the United States.
Started by in Chicago by the Salvation Army in 1938, the day honors the "donuts lassies", the young women of the group who served sweets and assisted soldiers on the front lines during World War I (and this day should not confused with National Donut Day, which is in November and actually celebrates this meal)
Donuts have been around since long before World War I, and we have to thank the Dutch. The Dutch made "olykoek", which translates to oily cake. The first Dutch donuts did not have a hole, but they were fried in hot oil and the dough was sweet.
It wasn't until 1847 that the donut we know and love today appeared. Hanson Gregory, 16 at the time, claimed the credit. Tired of the donuts with a raw center, he used a pot of pepper to punch holes to help his donuts cook more evenly.
By 1920 Adolph Levitt, a Russian living in New York, had invented a donut machine. Thirteen years later, the Chicago World's Fair proclaimed donuts the "Success Food of the Century of Progress."
National Donut Day
