June 20th is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year! #summersolstice

Since ancient times, the summer solstice has been marked on calendars with celebrations honoring the sun and as a way to mark the seasons. Today is also national ice cream soda day and national vanilla milkshake day – very appropriate for the first day of the summer.

It’s been said that ice cream soda was created by Mr. Robert McCay Green.  According to Green, he created the beverage in 1874 in Philadelphia when he ran out of ice for his shaved ice treats.

And as for the vanilla milkshake, the first time the term “milkshake” was used in print was in 1885, a concoction of cream, eggs, and whiskey which was often served with other alcoholic tonics such as lemonades and soda waters. In the early 1900s, people started asking for a scoop of ice-cream and flavored syrups to be added.