Read the text The History of Ice Cream: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Who doesn't love a nice, cold scoop of ice cream on a warm day? For thousands of years, ice cream has been a decadent dessert loved by most people around the world.

There is some argument about who first invented ice cream. Some believe that ice cream was invented by the Chinese people anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 years ago. They created a recipe of frozen milk and rice that was served as a dessert. Persia has also been credited with first serving frozen desserts. Over 2,000 years ago, the wealthy people of Persia enjoyed shaved ice from the mountains, covered with grape juice. They later learned to freeze rosewater and add different fruit toppings. These desserts were considered delicacies that only the richest families could experience. About 1,000 years after this, there is evidence that suggested Nero, the Roman Emperor, also enjoyed frozen treats and demanded that a constant supply of ice from the mountains be available to him. He liked to add honey to the top of his dessert.

Ice cream as we know it can be traced back to the 9th century in Arab cities, such as Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo. Near the end of the 13th century, Marco Polo returned to Italy after his travels through China with news of a frozen creamed dessert. In Europe, ice cream could only be found in Italy. Then, in 1533, Italian noblewoman Catherine de'Medici of Italy married Henry II of France. As Queen, Catherine introduced ice cream to France. Soon, the popularity of the dessert spread across all of Europe.

The first recorded account of ice cream in the United States was in 1744. In a written letter, a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen detailed a delicious frozen dessert featuring strawberries and milk. The invention of electricity and manufacturing meant that ice cream could be made and kept much more easily, and the popularity of the frozen treat grew quickly across the country.

To start, ice cream was served in a dish. It wasn't until the late 19th century that the ice cream cone made its first appearance. As with ice cream itself, there has always been some controversy over who the true inventor of the ice cream cone was. It is claimed that in 1896, a man by the name of Italo Marchiony invented the ice cream cone in New York City. He was granted a patent for this cup-shaped invention in 1903. Then, in 1904, ice cream was served in a true conical-shaped cone by Ernest Hamwi at the St. Louis World Fair. Whoever the true inventor was, the discovery caught on, and by 1924, Americans were eating over 200 million ice cream cones a year!

Select the detail from the text that best supports the idea that experimentation with different toppings lead to the development of different flavors of ice cream.