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The Wonderful World of Doughnuts

An assortment of Snopes fact checks on that most holey of sweet confections, the doughnut.

Published May 13, 2022

 (Getty Images/Stock photo)
Image courtesy of Getty Images/Stock photo

Whether cake or raised, plain or glazed, filled with jelly or topped with chocolate and sprinkles, doughnuts are among the most popular confections in the world. Unsurprisingly, Snopes has had many occasions to poke holes in viral stories about doughnuts and the companies that make them.

Famously, for example, it is commonly believed that President John F. Kennedy accidentally proclaimed himself a jelly doughnut when he uttered the line "Ich bin ein Berliner" during a speech in Germany in 1963. Was his grasp of German really that bad? We endeavored to find out.

Then there's the popular doughnut-origin story: Supposedly, a penny-pinching, 19th-century sea captain came up with the idea of cutting holes in the fried balls of dough to save money. True, or half-baked? See our ruling about this and other doughnut rumors and tales below.

Sweets, Confectionery, Food
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Captain Hanson Crockett Gregory the sea captain who is credited with inventing the doughnut hole
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size of the donut hole down through the years
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Pastry, Dessert, Food
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dunkin donuts
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David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.

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