Here's what some academic types got to say 'bout bagels...

Bagelology 101
There is no definitive history on the origins of bagels, but the most popular story is that bagels were invented in 1683 by a Viennese baker who wanted to bake a special bread to honour King Jan Sobieski of Poland for saving the city from Turkish invaders. The King was a skilled horseman, so the special bread was baked in the shape of a riding stirrup. The Austrian word for "stir-up" is "Beugel". As the Buegels popularity spread throughout Eastern Europe, the name evolved but the formula and tradition remained unchanged. Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe brought bagels to the United States towards the end of the 19th century. In 1956, the New York Times stated, "The Bagel, a form of Jewish baked goods sometimes described as a doughnut with rigor mortis, will not disappear from New York tables."

Bagels are not just bread that has been shaped into a circle – nor a dead doughnut. Bagels contain no fats, oils or animal products. There are two basic methods for cooking bagels. The traditional method involves boiling the bagels before baking them. A more recent method is to steam-bake the bagels using an oven that allows for steam to be fed in during the baking process. The difference between the two methods is substantive in terms of the finished bagel. Traditional boiled bagels are generally heavier and more chewy than steam-baked bagels. Boiled bagels perish much more rapidly than steam-baked bagels – some boiled bagels last as little as three hours, but generally need to be consumed within a day.

Sources:
Bagelmania:  The "Hole" Story by:  Connie Berman & Suzanne Munshower
"History of the Bagel" by:  Kimberly Skopitz