National Ice Cream Soda Day Date in the current year: June 20, 2024

According to Green’s own account, he was operating a soda fountain at the Franklin Institute’s semi-centennial celebration in 1874. To lure customers away from a competitor with a fancier soda fountain, he decided to add vanilla ice cream and flavored syrup to soda. Green’s treat was a hit, and soon other soda fountains began to sell the new drink. Other people credited with inventing the ice cream soda are George Guy, Philip Mohr, and Fred Sanders.

There are countless variations of ice cream soda (imagine the number of ice cream flavors and soft drink varieties, and then multiply the numbers by each other), but some are more popular than others. They include:

• chocolate ice cream soda: chocolate syrup + chocolate ice cream + unflavored carbonated water
• black and white ice cream soda: chocolate syrup + vanilla ice cream + unflavored carbonated water
• strawberry ice cream soda: strawberry syrup + vanilla or strawberry ice cream + unflavored carbonated water
• root beer float: vanilla ice cream (or any other ice cream flavor, but vanilla is the most common) + root beer
• coke float: vanilla ice cream + any kind of cola
• Boston cooler: vanilla ice cream + Vernors ginger ale
• Snow White: vanilla ice cream + Sprite or 7 Up
• purple cow: vanilla ice cream + purple grape soda
• sherbet cooler (slammer): vanilla syrup + watermelon or orange sherbet + seltzer water
• orange float (orange whip): vanilla ice cream + orange soda
• nectar soda: a mix of vanilla syrup, almond syrup, sweetened condensed milk and red food coloring + vanilla ice cream + soda water
• beer float: chocolate ice cream + Guinness stout + espresso

The beverage is popular outside the English-speaking world as well. In Mexico, for example, it is known as helado flotante (“floating ice cream”). The most popular version is made with lemon sherbet and cola. In Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gonduras and Guatemala, the ice cream float is usually made by combining ice cream and cola, hence the name vaca negra (black cow).

In Brazil and Portugal, the beverage has several names depending on the type of soda. Vaca preta (“black cow”) is made by combining vanilla or chocolate ice cream and cola, while vaca amarela or vaca dourada (“yellow cow” or “golden cow”) consists of vanilla ice cream and guaraná or orange soda. The drink is also popular in Japan and Singapore, where it usually consists of melon soda topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

To celebrate National Ice Cream Soda Day, treat yourself to your favorite ice cream float variety.