National Bagel Day

National Bagel Day, observed January 15th, celebrates the dense, chewy, ring-shaped bread roll that's boiled before baking, a technique that gives bagels their distinctive glossy crust and chewy interior. Bagels have roots in the Jewish communities of Poland, with the earliest documented reference dating to a 1610 community ordinance in Kraków, and the bread traveled to the United States with Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming especially associated with New York City, where bagel bakers even formed a powerful union in the early 20th century. For much of their history, bagels were handmade and hand-rolled, a labor-intensive process that limited production, until the invention of the bagel-making machine in the 1960s made mass production possible and helped bagels spread across the country and eventually the world. Today bagels come in countless varieties, from plain, sesame, and everything to sweet flavors, typically served with cream cheese, lox, or as a sandwich base. On National Bagel Day, people celebrate by visiting a bagel shop, trying a new topping or flavor combination, or baking bagels at home.