This July, people all over the country will be screaming for ice cream.

National ice cream day is celebrated every year on the third Sunday in July. It is a day to recognize and enjoy the cool and creamy dessert that many Americans love. This year, on July 16th, people all over the country will be running to their local ice cream shop to grab a scoop of their favorite flavor.

Ice cream first originated in China around 618-69 AD, and it was made known in the United States in 1774. George Washington, during his presidency, was even reported to have spent approximately two hundred dollars on ice cream during one summer.

In 1832, Augustus Jackson created multiple ice cream recipes as well as many ways to manufacture it. The first patent for a small-scale hand cranked ice cream freezer was given to Nancy Johnson in 1843.

In the early eighteen hundreds, ice cream was made more available to the public at a lower cost, and the industrial revolution turned ice cream production and sales into a commercial business. Wide availability in the nineteen hundreds led to ice cream sodas and ice cream sundaes, and troops were even given ice cream during World War Two.

Since then, ice cream production has remained relatively consistent with new innovations in the industry all over the country.

According to Brandon Gaille, the United States leads in ice cream consumption, and an average of 26 liters are consumed per person per year. Additionally, 90 percent of US households regularly eat the frozen treat.

Ice cream has also proven to be very popular in other countries too. People of New Zealand enjoy about 23 liters of ice cream per year, and Australia is next in line at 18 liters per person. As leaders in production, the United States exports 60,000 metric tons of ice cream every year to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

National ice cream day was first recognized as a national holiday by President Ronald Reagan. In 1984, Reagan decided to celebrate ice cream in order to promote the wellbeing of the dairy industry. According to NBC, dairy farmers produce nearly ten percent of the milk needed to make the country’s ice cream supply.

Reagan stated the national holiday in Proclamation 5219. It said, “Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim July 1984 as National Ice Cream Month and July 15, 1984, as National Ice Cream Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe these events with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

The proclamation has rang clear since then, and all over the country people have celebrated this national holiday with many fun activities.

Ice cream franchises such as Carvel Ice Cream, Haagen-Dazs, and Baskin Robins have all participated in the holiday with free or discounted ice cream as well as many other shops all across the country.

This year, many businesses will take part on July 15th like they have in years prior, and thousands of people will come out to celebrate one of their favorite sweet treats.