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Updated June 2026
July 29th is National Chicken Wing Day.
Wings have become a favorite American snack since their unintentional creation in 1964. We have a number of chicken wing recipes below.
Below:
> A brief history of chicken.
> The history of Buffalo wings.
> Buffalo wings recipe: baked, not fried.
> More chicken wing recipes.
Elsewhere on The Nibble:
> The year’s 40 chicken holidays.
> The different types of chicken and chicken cuts: a photo glossary.
> The history of chicken nuggets.
1. THE HISTORY OF CHICKEN
Mankind has been eating chicken wings since the first wild chicken was caught.
Chickens were domesticated from the Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus), possibly crossed with the Grey Junglefowl. Both are members of the pheasant family.
Wild chickens were domesticated in Asia, possibly as far back as 7000 B.C.E. Certainly, the Chinese had domesticated them by about 5000 B.C.E., as had East Asia neighbors such as Thailand and Vietnam.
India, home to such delicious chicken dishes, didn’t domesticate the fowl until about 3000 B.C.E.
Back in the day before man settled down to farming and animal husbandry, some 13,000 to 10,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate what they caught.
The modern domesticated chicken is the subspecies Gallus gallus domesticus. So thanks to everyone who helped to domesticate the chicken. Where would we be without it?
> Here’s more chicken history.
2. BUFFALO WINGS HISTORY
Buffalo wings, America’s favorite wing recipe, were invented in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. Today’s a good day to enjoy a plate.
Co-owner Teressa Bellissimo, who had emigrated from Sicily, fried the wings—a typical preparation for chicken wings of that era.
But wings were about to be elevated, and Ms. Bellissimo to carve her name in culinary history.
Teressa covered the fried wings in her homemade buttery hot sauce and served them with a side of blue cheese and celery.
Why those two ingredients? Because that’s what she had on hand.
> Here’s more of the story.
Many popular dishes, including the Caesar salad and the Cobb salad, were invented because “that’s what was in the fridge.”
So the next time you’re faced with putting a dish on the table with a diverse group of ingredients but no recipe: Create it and give it a name.
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