Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections dishes or fruit, a beverage such as dessert wine or liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of central and western Africa, most parts of China, there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal; the term dessert can apply to many confections, such as biscuits, cookies, gelatins, ice creams, pies, sweet soups, tarts. Fruit is commonly found in dessert courses because of its occurring sweetness; some cultures sweeten foods that are more savory to create desserts. The word "dessert" originated from the French word desservir, meaning "to clear the table." Its first known use was in 1600, in a health education manual entitled Naturall and artificial Directions for Health, written by William Vaughan. In his A History of Dessert, Michael Krondl explains it refers to the fact dessert was served after the table had been cleared of other dishes; the term dates from the 14th century but attained its current meaning around the beginning of the 20th century when "service à la française" was replaced with "service à la russe"" The word "dessert" is most used for this course in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, while "pudding", "sweet", or more colloquially, "afters" are used in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong and India.

Sweets were fed to the gods in ancient Mesopotamia and ancient India and other ancient civilizations. Dried fruit and honey were the first sweeteners used in most of the world, but the spread of sugarcane around the world was essential to the development of dessert. Sugarcane was grown and refined in India before 500 BC and was crystallized, making it easy to transport, by AD 500. Sugar and sugarcane were traded, making sugar available to Macedonia by 300 BC and China by AD 600. In the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, China, sugar has been a staple of cooking and desserts for over a thousand years. Sugarcane and sugar were little known and rare in Europe until the twelfth century or when the Crusades and colonization spread its use. Herodotus mentions that, as opposed to the Greeks, the main Persian meal was simple, but they would eat many desserts afterwards. Europeans began to manufacture sugar in the Middle Ages, more sweet desserts became available. Sugar was so expensive only the wealthy could indulge on special occasions.

The first apple pie recipe was published in 1381. The earliest documentation of the term cupcake was in "Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry and Sweetmeats" in 1828 in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook; the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America caused desserts to be mass-produced, preserved and packaged. Frozen foods, including desserts, became popular starting in the 1920s when freezing emerged; these processed foods became a large part of diets in many industrialized nations. Many countries have foods distinctive to their nations or region. Sweet desserts contain cane sugar, palm sugar, honey or some types of syrup such as molasses, maple syrup, treacle, or corn syrup. Other common ingredients in Western-style desserts are flour or other starches, Cooking fats such as butter or lard, eggs, acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, spices and other flavoring agents such as chocolate, peanut butter and nuts; the proportions of these ingredients, along with the preparation methods, play a major part in the consistency and flavor of the end product.

Sugars contribute tenderness to baked goods. Flour or starch components gives the dessert structure. Fats can enable the development of flaky layers in pastries and pie crusts; the dairy products in baked goods keep the desserts moist. Many desserts contain eggs, in order to form custard or to aid in the rising and thickening of a cake-like substance. Egg yolks contribute to the richness of desserts. Egg whites can provide structure. Further innovation in the healthy eating movement has led to more information being available about vegan and gluten-free substitutes for the standard ingredients, as well as replacements for refined sugar. Desserts can contain many extracts to add a variety of flavors. Salt and acids are added to desserts to create a contrast in flavors; some desserts are coffee-flavored, for coffee biscuits. Alcohol can be used as an ingredient, to make alcoholic desserts. Dessert consist of variations of flavors and appearances. Desserts can be defined as a sweeter course that concludes a meal.

This definition includes a range of courses ranging from fruits or dried nuts to multi-ingredient cakes and pies. Many cultures have different variations of dessert. In modern times the variations of desserts have been passed down or come from geographical regions; this is one cause for the variation of desserts. These are some major categories. Biscuits, (from the Old French word bescuit meaning twice-baked in Latin known as "cookies" in North America, are flattish bite-sized or larger short pastries intended to be eaten out of the hand. Biscuits can have a texture, crispy, chewy, or soft. Examples include layered bars, crispy meringues, an

Pillow Queens are an indie rock band from Dublin, Ireland. Pillow Queens formed as a band in late 2016 when the group released their first demo EP entitled Calm Girls; the release of this record was followed by performances on the Irish festival circuit, including at Electric Picnic and All Together Now. After the release of their second EP, State of the State, the group performed with the likes of Pussy Riot, Future Islands and performed in the IMRO room at Other Voices; as of mid-2019, the band were in the studio working on their debut LP, tentatively due to be released in mid 2020. The band have both punk influences. Pillow Queens have been described by Paste magazine as having a "sonic palette" crossed with "ragged-edged" guitars, combined with "smooth harmonies"

Bjørn Føyn was a Norwegian zoologist known for researching the genetics of algae. He was born in Trondhjem as a son of Olga Barth Nielsen, he finished his secondary education at Trondhjem Cathedral School in 1918, graduated from the Royal Frederick University with the cand.real. Degree in 1927, he was a research assistant from 1923 to 1928 at the Royal Frederick University, under Max Hartmann at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Biologie from 1929 to 1932. He was a research fellow in Norway during this period, from 1932 to 1937 he worked in Bergen. From 1938 to 1968 he was a professor at the University of Oslo, he was elected as a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1938, of the Zoologisch-Botanische Gesellschaft of Vienna in 1963. He had taken the doctorate in 1935 with the thesis Lebenszyklus, Cytologie und Sexualität der Chiorophycee Cladophora Suhriana Kiltzing, on the algae Cladophora. Other notable publications include the textbook in biology for upper secondary schools.

The popular work Norges dyreliv came in four volumes between 1947 and 1950, edited by Føyn together with Johan Huus, Gudrun Ruud and Hagbart Røise. It too was reissued later. In the 1938 popular release Arvelæren, he criticized racial biology as practiced in Nazi Germany. In World War II came the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany; when the Nazi authorities were about to change the rules for admission to the university in autumn 1943, a protest ensued. In retaliation, the authorities arrested 60 male students and 10 female students; the staff Johannes Andenæs, Eiliv Skard, Johan Christian Schreiner, Harald Krabbe Schjelderup, Anatol Heintz, Odd Hassel, Ragnar Frisch, Carl Jacob Arnholm, Endre Berner and Bjørn Føyn were sent to Grini concentration camp. Føyn was first incarcerated at Bredtveit from 15 October to 22 November at Berg until 8 December at Grini until 24 December 1944. Føyn married fellow science student Bibba Ruud in 1927. Through her he was a brother-in-law of Johan T. Ruud, he was a first cousin of Ernst Føyn.

He died in January 1985 in Oslo