By: Jingwei Zhao

Jellybean loving President Ronald Reagan was also an ice cream enjoyer. In 1984, he established Proclamation 5129, declaring July as the National Ice Cream Month, with the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. This year, the occasion falls on July 21st. During National Ice Cream Month, Americans are encouraged to eat as much ice cream as they can to celebrate.

Ice cream has a long history. The Arabs used milk and sugar as the main ingredients to make the modern ice cream recipe. The Europeans discovered the Arabs’ creation in the 16th century. However, the US were late to the party, as their first account of ice cream came at 1744, when it was served to guests by Maryland Governor Thomas Bladen. To be fair, they became independent only a few centuries ago.

Now the world’s greatest amount of ice cream consumers is none other than the Americans. Each year, they eat an average of 20 pounds of ice cream per person, with over $6 billion dollars spent on the tasty treat. California produces the most ice cream, but the most consumers per capita are from Washington, DC, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island.

With over 1,000 official ice cream flavors worldwide, people are bound to have some favorites. Popular flavors include chocolate, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, and cookies and cream. The global top choice is vanilla.

Some people believe their favorite flavors are connected to their identity. According to the founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Dr. Alan Hirsch, your favorite ice cream flavor reflects your personality. For example, chocolate enjoyers are supposedly lively, charming and a little dramatic. Strawberry lovers are more introverted, vanilla fans are impulsive, and mint chocolate chip fiends are cautious.

Now that July is here, be sure to celebrate the National Ice Cream Month.