The famous story goes that an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson accidently created the first popsicle in San Francisco in 1905. Young Epperson mixed some sweet soda powder with water in a container and accidentally left it outside with the mixing stick still in it, where it froze from the winter temperatures and created what he dubbed an “Epsicle.”

As an adult, Epperson went on to sell his Epsicles and applied for a patent after selling them at an amusement park called Neptune Beach. The first Popsicles cost just 5 cents and came in seven flavors, but the stock market forced Epperson to sell his patent rights to the Popsicle Corporation, who he previously had royalty agreements with.

There are some holes in the origin story of the Popsicle, as SFGate reporter Madeline Wells stated that the temperature never dropped low enough for water to freeze outside in San Francisco in 1905. Wells also claims that two men in the 1870s attempted to sell a similar treat, suggesting Epperson may be the original patent holder but not the inventor.