How an 11-year-old in Oakland invented the popsicle

In 1905, an 11-year-old kid invented the Popsicle right here in the Bay.

How it happened: Frank Epperson was playing in his Oakland neighborhood when he accidentally left on the porch a cup of soda with the stirring stick still in it.

• The drop in temperature overnight led the soda to freeze like an icicle.

Details: He named the invention the "Epsicle" and began selling them at Neptune Beach, an amusement park in Alameda, after it became a hit in his neighborhood.

• Once he began pursuing a patent for it, his children eventually convinced him to rename the treat the popsicle — or a Pop's 'Sicle, as they called it.
• It has since spawned a whole industry's worth of ice pops.