The Donut-A-Pult is a creation of David Letterman, host of the Late Show with David Letterman.
The show, which has aired on CBS since August 30, 1993, needed a machine that could hurl donuts into the audience.
In 1995, the hard work of the Late Show R&D Department finally paid off. They had created the world's first pastry catapult, which focused on lauching donuts, although in theory it could lauch bagels, croissants, or other pastries.
The Late Show R&D folks and lab technicians worked tirelessly to improve their design. A new revision of the Donut-A-Pult would be presented every few days, slowly perfecting the design.
The Donut-A-Pult team had several hurdles to overcome in creating a better Donut-A-Pult: First, a more solid design was desired to prevent the break-up of the machine upon launch. Also, the optimal angle of release was difficult to achieve in early models; donuts would often strike the lights in the studio.
The R&D boys solved these problems and came up with several Donut-A-Pult innovations, such as multiple barrels, until their work culminated with the Donut-A-Pult to end all Donut-A-Pults: The Donut-A-Pult 2000.