National Ice Cream Day
Next: July 18, 2027
One more scoop, by proclamation.
The story
Where it comes from
National Ice Cream Day began with an Act of Congress. Senate Joint Resolution 298 named July 1984 National Ice Cream Month and 15 July 1984, the third Sunday of that month, National Ice Cream Day. On 9 July President Ronald Reagan proclaimed both, noting that ice cream 'enjoys a reputation as the perfect dessert and snack food', and asked Americans to mark them 'with appropriate ceremonies and activities'. The third Sunday of July has been kept as National Ice Cream Day ever since.
How it's celebrated
The International Dairy Foods Association, the industry body, marks the month with recipe videos, photo contests and an annual ice cream party on Capitol Hill for lawmakers and their staff. For everyone else it is simply a day for a cone, a sundae or a root beer float with friends and family.
Did you know
- Reagan's proclamation noted that Americans ate more than 887 million gallons of ice cream in 1983, and that nearly a tenth of the country's milk went into making it.
- Thomas Jefferson's handwritten recipe for vanilla ice cream, one of only ten recipes surviving in his hand, is kept at the Library of Congress.
- By the industry's figures, the average American eats roughly 18 pounds of ice cream a year, about 8 kilograms.
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