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The adage, “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan” is an applicable turn of phrase in many instances, and it seems to ring true when trying to pin down the origins of ice cream. A 2019 study from Datassential that surveyed more than 2,500 consumers about their dessert habits and preferences found that ice cream is the No. 1 dessert. If that’s a fairly straightforward pursuit, identifying the origins of this beloved treat is not so easy. Many attribute the origins of ice cream to China’s Tang dynasty, which was in power from 618 to 907. History.com notes that sources from that period reference a sweet drink made from iced, camphor-laced water buffalo milk, which certainly sounds similar to modern day ice cream. But others point much further back, noting that iced drinks and desserts were sold along the Euphrates River as far back as at least 4000 B.C. History.com also notes that the first European ice creams can be traced to Italy in the 1600s. The difficulty with distinguishing the exact origins of ice cream, and the various claims that trace those beginnings to one place or another, support the notion that success, in this case the confectionary triumph that is ice cream, indeed has many fathers.