• Ten things you might not know about ice cream
• The British Royal Family
• The favourite place to spend a holiday

It's summertime and the scooping is easy. But just how much do you know about one of America's, and the world's, oldest desserts? Check out these fun facts about our favorite frozen treat.

1. The origin of ice cream is disputed. Legend has it that the Roman emperor Nero used to send his slaves scurrying to the mountains to collect snow and ice to make flavored ices, the precursors to ice cream, in the first century. Others think that the Chinese invented the stuff during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). The sweet-toothed explorer Marco Polo is said to have seen people eating ice cream, flavored with camphor, on a visit to China in the 1300s.
2. The first written mention of ice cream in the U. S. can be found in a letter from the eighteenth century. The writer admiringly describes the ice cream, and a strawberry dessert, which a Maryland governor served at a dinner part. Initially just a treat for the elite (including George Washington, who is said to have consumed enormous quantities), the first ice cream parlor opened in New York City in 1776. In 1845, the "hand-cranked freezer" was invented, allowing Americans to make ice cream more easily at home.
3. Americans consume the most ice cream in the world per capita, with Australians coming in second. In 1924, the average American ate eight pints a year. The International Dairy Foods Association reported in 1997 that this figure had jumped to 48 pints a year!
4. Vanilla is the most popular flavor in this country, snagging anywhere from 20 to 29 per cent of sales. Chocolate come in a distant second, with about 9 to 10 per cent of the market.
5. Among the most unusual flavors of ice cream ever manufactured have been: avocado, garlic, azuki bean, jalapeno and pumpkin. Perhaps the weirdest of all, dill pickle ice cream, was marketed to expectant mothers. Sales were said to be disappointing, unsurprising.
6. One out of every five ice cream eaters shares their favorite treat with their dog or cat! (Is the day of liver, rabbit, or tuna flavored ice cream imminent?)
7. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest ice cream sundae in the world was made in Alberta, Canada, in 1988. It weighed nearly 55,000 pounds. The same year, a baking company and a sheet metal firm in Dubuque, Iowa, teamed up to produced the world's largest ice cream sandwich, which tipped the scales at nearly 2,500 pounds. And, in 1999, Baskin-Robbins created an ice cream cake at a beach hotel in the United Arab Emirates that weighed just under 9,000 pounds.
8. One of the major ingredients in ice cream is air. Without it, the stuff would be as hard as a rock.
9. The most avid ice cream eaters in the U.S. don't live in Hawaii, South California, or any other hot and sunny place. Instead, in 1999, it was reported that the citizens of chilly Omaha, Nebraska, ate more ice cream per person that any other state in America.
10. In 1984, President Roland Reagan declared July as National Ice Cream Moth, citing the fod's "nutritious and wholesome" qualities. He decreed that patriotic Americans should mark the month with "appropriate ceremonies and activities"

Glossary

As the British celebrate Queen Elizabeth's birthday, they might have forgotten something very important:

Although they are supposed to be the most important symbol of Britishness, our present Royal Family are really the result of an almost totally random selection of descendants of William the Conqueror (he invaded England in 1066). And he was, of course, frog-eating French. That's bad enough for some, but it gets even worse: the present royal sare all descended from King George I of Ernest, Elector of Hanover. This means, of course, that the most important family in Britain are not English, or Scottish, or even Welsh. They are - God forgive us - German!

This fact caused the British much embarrassing that in 1917 the Royals wee obliged to change their name from the evidently Teutonic Saxe-Coburg, to the suitably British Windsor. After that, of course, there was nothing to stop us from fighting the Nazis in World War II with a pure heart and a clean conscience.

King George I (1714-27), founder of the House of Hanover, couldn't even speak English when he arrived in England from Germany, already aged 54. His one aim in coming to England was o make as much money as possible, which is exactly what he did, helped by all his German advisers.

George I took absolutely no interest in England or the English , and left the business of running the country to prime minister. But as a result this we can thank him for his great services to British Democracy. It was during his reign of total neglect that parliamentary rule in England really developed.

His son George II (1727-60) did manage to learn English. But the next king, named-yes, you guessed it - George III (1760-1820) - unfortunately went completely stark raving bonkers . He named the pillow he slept on "Prince Octavius", and gave orders to people who were long since dead.

Mad King George III was followed by his two sons, George IV (1830 - 37), who were both sane, apparently. Then Queen Victoria took the throne and began a whole new line of descendants. Unfortunately, her family were all Germans, too. And is was actually none other than she, the great Empress Victoria of the British Empire, who saddled us with that embarrassingly Teutonic name, Saxe-Coburg.

When Elizabeth (now Windsor) was looking for a husband, the most impressive candidate was Prince Philip, son of Prince Andrew ... of Greece . But Philip's family were Greek in name only; they were actually of Danish and, yes you guessed it again, German origin. Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, and their first child was called Charles. So, when the Queen finally dies, and Charles becomes Charles III, he won't really be British at all. He will be German, Danish, Greek and with a bit of French thrown in for good measure.

GLOSSARY:

Fifty years ago In Britain the favourite place to spend a holiday was by the British seaside. These days, more and more holidaymakers jump on an aeroplane and spend a few weeks in Spain, Greece or even Miami. Consequently, the British seaside resort is beginning to look a little tired, and in need of a good holiday itself.

Brits are nation of holiday travels. In fact, foreign holidays are so popular in the UK that a flight from London to Spain's Costa del Sol is cheaper than a train from London to Newcastle. Given that Britain is surrounded by sea, why is it that we would rather fly thousands of miles away than holiday on our own coast? It's not just our unpredictable weather. Costal resorts like Blackpool, Scarborough, Bournemouth, or Brighton haven't kept up with the changing tide, with what's cool and modern.

First off, the English seaside town likes to think of itself as a mini Las Vegas with its main streets lined with video arcades, with flashing lights and pumping music, and stuffed with one-armed-bandits and video games waiting to gulp your change. Kids dream of being left there with lots of cash, and avoid the obligatory vegging on the beach, which is mum and dad's idea of a fun day out.

Once parents have dragged the kids away from this "virtual amusement", they must get some real thrills in the "funfair" before they can sprawl on the beach. A small and noisy amusement park can always be found at seaside resorts, sucking in the kids with small roller coasters, dodgems and water slides.

ON THE BEACH

On arrival at the beach, you may be surprised to find that the soft golden sand of your imaginings is actually coarse gravel with a minefield of dog poo. The suspiciously brown water is too cold to bathe anything more in than your big toe. This uniquely English scene is completed with the beach hut. Many seaside towns still boast a row of these colourful, weathered, single-family huts. If you want to buy one then be prepared to pay anything from £3.000 to an unbelievable £120.000 (800.000 zloty) for Victorian originals at the best beaches.

The main culinary attraction of the English seaside is naturally fish and chips, best enjoyed in a sit-down restaurant with chequered plastic tablecloths and laminated menus. This chunky wedge of deep fried cod, scampi or haddock served with brown strips of greasy potatoes can't be experienced properly unless liberally covered with salt and vinegar and accompanied by "mushy peas", a thick paste of mashed green leagumes. An optional chip shop treat and a favourite of kids in the north of England is a bread roll stuffed with chips and ketchup known as a "chip buttie". For desert how about a deep-fried Mars Bar? Yes, the British seaside is a place that will satisfy even the most discerning of palates.

SEASIDE ROCK

After this delicious cholesterol orgy it's time to burn calories and unwind on a leisurely stroll along the pier. Here you will find little kiosks selling naughty cartoon postcards, tacky souvenirs and disposable beach toys. This is the best place to pick up a sick of rock, a round baton of hard candy with the name of the resort written in the middle, and containing enough sugar to send any nine-year-old up Mount Everest.

Some English piers are big enough to accommodate theatres, which perform year-round pantomimes and revue shows, a perfect introduction to the world of minor British television celebrities and English music hall, with a brand of humour that nobody under 65 seems to find particularly funny.

Not all seaside resorts in Britain are as bad and as tacky as described, but many of them are. Is it any surprise then most Brits decide that sun, sand sangria in Spain is better than a sick of rock and chip buttie in Blackpool?