Pink BoxPeople (8)

Hanson Gregory's mother, who by the Smithsonian's account made the deep-fried dough the ring story starts from.

William Rosenberg

Opened the Open Kettle in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1948 and renamed it Dunkin' Donuts in 1950.

Credited with Ted Ngoy for the pink donut box, after helping other Cambodians set up shops in Southern California.

Russell Wendell

The machine salesman who founded the Big Do-Nut Drive-In chain and put 22-foot donuts on its roofs.

Bun Tek Ngoy, the Donut King

The Cambodian refugee who turned one La Habra donut shop into a trade for a community, and lost the fortune it made him.

Bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans chef and opened in Winston-Salem in 1937.

The Russian refugee who built the first automated donut machine in New York in 1920 and founded the Doughnut Corporation of America.

Captain Gregory

The New England sailor who said he punched the first hole in a donut in 1847, at sixteen, aboard a lime-trading ship.