NPR’s food essayist Bonny Wolf reported yesterday on the 100th birthday of the popsicle{#4727935} for Weekend Edition Sunday{#10} (listen in RealAudio).

Like so many brilliant inventions, it happened by accident in 1905. And through a century of change, it remains a consistent American icon, stick and all.

It all started, apparently, with a forgotten bottle of soda pop with a stick in it and an unusually cold night.