It's National Doughnut Day

Doughnuts are more than just a sweet snack—they’re an institution.

A doughnut, or donut, is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, jelly, cream, custard, or another sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough, originally made from the middle of a ring doughnut, may be cooked as a doughnut hole. A doughnut also looks similar to a bagel, which uses the same shape as a ring donut.

Possible origins
Doughnuts have a disputed history. One theory suggests that they were introduced into North America by Dutch settlers, who were responsible for popularizing other American desserts, including cookies, cream pie, and cobbler. This theory is bolstered by the fact that in the mid-19th Century doughnuts were called by the Dutch olykoeks ("oily cakes"). However, there is also archaeological evidence that the pastries were prepared by prehistoric Native Americans in southwestern USA.[1]

Hansen Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was only sixteen years old. Gregory was dissatisfied with the greasiness of doughnuts twisted into various shapes and with the raw center of regular doughnuts. He claimed to have punched a hole in the center of dough with the ship's tin pepper box and later taught the technique to his mother.

in Wikipedia