Well, as with all things food, the French croissant was inspired by a dish that came before it, that of the Austrian “kipfel” or “kipferl”. The kipferl dates back to the 1400s, but the the French version of it appeared first in the mid-1800s. French admirers of the kipferl, served by the first Viennese bakery in Paris in the late 1830s, made their own version and named it for its crescent ("croissant") shape. By now the croissant is a thoroughly French dish.