There is some doubt about where and when the European hot dog was first invented, but there is no question that New York is the birthplace of the American hot dog, first sold in the 1860s by pushcart vendors on the Bowery. Charles Feltman, a German immigrant, set up the first stationary hot dog stand at Coney Island in 1871 (an idea imitated many years later by Nathan’s). Another enterprising vendor began selling hot dogs to baseball fans at the Polo Grounds. So where does the term “hot dog” actually come from? The original German immigrants who brought the idea to America actually called it a “dachshund” or “little–dog” sausage. The vendors, translating into English, called “Hot Dachshund sausages here! Get your hot little dogs here!”

Q: When the Dalai Lama stopped at a hot dog stand in New York, what did he say?
A: Make me one with everything!