Toast is such a simple food; we expect that most people give it very little thought. It’s just something they have for breakfast or when they’re making a special lunch for their child. Few people would think that this food was important enough to warrant its holiday, yet it does. On the last Thursday in February, National Toast Day is celebrated, and this day allows everyone to give more thought to a food that’s more than just a base for butter, jellies, or jams.

The History Of National Toast Day

This holiday was first celebrated in 2014. It was created by the Tiptree World Bread Awards in the U.K. that year but has since spread around the world. Now people all over the world, including the United States, celebrate this humble holiday dedicated to toasted bread.

The History Of Toast

Toasting bread is such a simple concept that it’s almost impossible to put a finger on a particular day on the calendar and say that day was when toast was invented. After all, bread is approximately 8,000 years old, and we’re sure that many people over those thousands of years have toasted their bread over a fire.

So we’re going to have to turn to the written record and use that as the historical starting point for toast. And the first written reference to toast appears in a recipe for stewed onions in stale beer and oil.

This recipe was called Oyle Soppys, and it was printed in 1430. In this recipe, it was recommended that this soup be served with toasted bread that has been cut up. Okay, that might be more like croutons, but we’re going to count it as toast anyway.

Some Interesting Facts About Toast

Below are some of the things that people celebrating this holiday might want to learn. Although most people wouldn’t think that toast was interesting enough to have trivia written about it, those people would be very wrong because we found quite a bit of interesting trivia about this food.

• Approximately 75 million Americans are believed to eat toast every day.
• The first electric toaster was invented back in 1905. This toaster was called El Tosto.
• The first automatic toaster was invented in 1926. It was called the Toastmaster One-A-One.
• The word “toast” comes from “tostare,” a Latin word that unsurprisingly means “to toast.”

Celebrating National Toast Day

Now that you know everything that you ever wanted to know about toast, it’s time to celebrate National Toast Day. On this day, you’ll probably want to make a type of toast that you wouldn’t ordinarily eat—after all, why shouldn’t this day be used to try something different?

If you eat white bread, then maybe consider eating wheat, rye, or sourdough toast. All are delicious. Or maybe try to make your version of Oyle Soppys—which is just an onion soup—and then serve it with toast. No matter how you celebrate this day, however, be sure to use the hashtag #NationalToastDay to let everyone know that they should be celebrating this holiday.