January 23rd is National Pie Day!

John-Bryan Hopkins

Here are today’s five things to know about pie:

In 1986 National Pie Day was first celebrated by the American Pie Council to commemorate Crisco’s 75th anniversary of “serving foods to families everywhere.”

The first pies appeared around 9500 BC.

Meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular American dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots and peas).

Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as pie à la mode.

Today’s Food History

1862 Agoston Haraszthy de Mokcsa brought 1,400 varieties of grapevines from Europe to California in 1862, and planted the first large vineyard in California in the Sonoma Valley. After the phyloxera blight destroyed much of Europe’s vineyards, some of these same vines, now on resistant American root stock, helped save the European wine industries.
1931 Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova died. A “Povlova”, a meringue with whipped cream and fruit, was named after her.
1961 Wilhelm Koppers died. This cultural anthropologist developed theories on the origins of society based on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.
1963 Three million gallons of soybean oil flooded streets in Mankato, Minnesota when a storage tank ruptured. Eventually the oil ended up in the Mississippi River. In the spring, more than 10,000 ducks were found dead in the wetlands along the river.