TUESDAY TRIVIA: Who Invented the Popsicle?

Summer is around the corner, and it will be time to break out the popsicles.

Who invented the cool treat and why is it called a “popsicle?”

In 1905, 11-year-old Frank Epperson had mixed some sugary soda powder with water and left it out overnight. In the morning, he found that the mixture frozen with the wooden stirrer in it. He ate it and called it an “Epsicle,” a combination of icicle and his name, according to NPR.

He started selling the treat around his neighborhood. In 1923, Epperson started selling Epsicles at Neptune Beach, a nearby amusement park.

Buoyed by its success, Epperson applied for a patent for his “frozen confection of attractive appearance, which can be conveniently consumed without contamination by contact with the hand and without the need for a plate, spoon, fork or other implement” in 1924. The patent illustrates the requirements for a perfect ice pop, including recommendations on the best wood for the stick: wood-bass, birch and poplar, NPR reports.

Eventually, Epperson’s children urged him to change the treat’s name to what they called it: a Pop’s ‘Sicle, or Popsicle.