Popsicles!

So there I was just minding my own business reading Yahoo! News when I came across this story about kid inventors (which could be read here). One story featured an eight year old Abbey Fleck who invented the Makin' Bacon Dish with her dad back in 1991. Impressive. But that wasn't the "got cha!" moment that struck me. The "got cha" moment that struck me was the story about how the Popsicle was invented. Once again, not the "got cha" for me. The "got cha" for me was how the name Popsicle came to be. The name is just figgin' brilliant! 

Ok. Here's the story...

Sometimes inventions by kids are amazing technological innovations and sometimes they're just plain practical ideas that make you wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?"

The Popsicle, that staple of summer, was created in 1905 by 11-year-old Frank Epperson -- by accident! Epperson had left a mixture of powdered soda, water and a stick in a cup on his porch overnight -- and it was a cold night. He woke up the next morning and it was a frozen treat on a stick.

He initially called it the "Epsicle," which was quite popular with the other kids at school and later his own kids. They kept asking for "Pop's 'sicle" and that, Jimmy, is how the Popsicle was born. He got a patent on it in 1923 and then sold the rights to a bigger company. Today, the brand is owned by Unilever and they sell more than two billion Popsicles every year.

Here's another fun fact: The double Popsicle was invented during the Depression so two children could share it and it would only cost one nickel.

Just like I said, friggin' brilliant!