January 30th is National Croissant Day

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Here are today’s five things to know about the croissant:

Each croissant rolls are made of 50 or more thin layers of pastry & butter.

According to legend, it was Marie Antoinette (Austrian Princess who married Louis XVI), introduced the croissant to France.

The French newspaper Le Figaro named the croissant from bakery Pierre Hermé the best in Paris in 2013. It also won in 2006.

Since Starbucks bought French baker Pascal Rigo’s San Francisco-based La Boulange, the chocolate croissant has become the coffee chain’s bestselling pastry.

In 2013, chef Dominque Ansel came up with the cronut — a deep-fried croissant/doughnut combination that became all the rage at his New York bakery.

Today’s Food History

• 1649 Charles I, king of England, Scotland and Ireland Died. Ice cream is said to have come from France when he married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri IV, and sister of Louis XIII.
• 1868 Charles Darwin’s ‘Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication.’ was published.
• 1969 The Beatles perform for the last time in public, on the roof of Apple Studios.
• 2009 RIP Restaurateur Milton; age of 90. Owner of New York’s famous Carnegie Deli from 1976 until his retirement in 2002.