OTD
February 9, 1651: If you enjoy coffee, gelato, French cafés, and intellectual conversation, then you must know of Procopio Cutò. He was born today in Sicily and is called The Father of Italian Gelato. He opened Café Procope in Paris in 1686, the city's first literary café where patrons would enjoy stimulating intellectual conversation over coffee and gelato.
Although it was closed for a time in the late 1800s after a run of 200 years, today it is open and often referred to as the oldest café in Paris. Over the years it attracted figures such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and later, American revolutionaries like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.