Carbs are king today and we're ready to dough it up. The bread business has become increasingly high-tech in the past several years with dough sheeter machines and commercial grade restaurant equipment, but bread has been a human staple for as long as there have been humans.

The commercial bakery market is currently huge, and getting bigger, boasting a growth from $26.2 billion to $30.9 billion from 2008 to 2014. That's a lot of dough. Given the lengthy and successful history of bread, we've collected a few bushels of fun facts that'll curb your curiosity for carbs.

1. There's a bread ceremony in Great Britain called First Footing. It's observed during the wee hours of New Year's Day. A piece of bread, coal, and silver are left outside your front door. This is supposed to bring you and your family warmth, food, and riches in the year to come.


2. A Guinness World Record was set in 1995 when a team of bakers from Montana baked a loaf of bread in eight minutes and 13 seconds. And that record includes everyhint from harvesting wheat from the field to fully completed baking. Talk about baking on the fly.


3. In Scandinavia, a tradition still holds that if a boy and girl eat from the same loaf of bread, they're bound to fall in love in the future.


4. Pumpernickel, the brown rye variation from Germany, has an interesting etymological story. One tells the story of Napolean demanding bread for his horse, Nicole, during a campaign. In French, he is reported to have said "pain pour Nicole" or "bread for Nicole", but the German-speaking people heard "pumpernickel". Another version translates "pumpern" as meaning "to fart" and "nickel" as a name for the devil, making it translate to "farting devil".

Commercial  dough sheeter machines and commercial restaurant equipment notwithstanding, bread has been on the menu for a really long time. It continues to be an important part of many of our favorite dishes, so don't take bread for granted. Next time you're about to make a sandwich, maybe you'll recall some of these silly stories to lighten up your lunch.