Free Slurpees For 7- Eleven Day — Oh Thank Heaven

Las Vegas, today is National 7-Eleven Day. And once again the chain is offering FREE SLURPEES.

Most of America is in a wretched heat wave, and battleing some hot summer weather today. So it's a perfect day day for a Slurpee.

Today is National 7-Eleven Day, since it's 7 -11. To celebrate, 7-Eleven once again is serving up free small Slurpees. They have been doing it since 2002.

Rewards members can also sign up to get another free Slurpee between tomorrow and July 31st. So you can stay cool through the end of the month.

The free Slurpees are also available at Speedway stores, which 7-Eleven also owns now. (They also have the deal at Stripes stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.)

To celebrate 7 - Eleven day, here are a few "Slurpee Facts" to share:

1. This year's Slurpee Day marks the 98th anniversary of 7-Eleven. The first store opened in 1927. It was called the Southland Ice Company. The name was then changed to Tote'm Stores, and then to 7-Eleven in 1946, to promote the new expanded hours:  7:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. Get it?

2. The Slurpee was invented by accident in 1958, when a soda fountain at a Dairy Queen store stopped working, and the owner, Omar Knedlik, stashed some soda in a freezer, so he could sell them partially frozen. YUM!!

His customers loved it. And that led him to starting The ICEE Company, which would be the first distributor of what would later become the Slurpee.

3. The Slurpee came to 7-Eleven in 1965, when they began a licensing deal with The ICEE Company.  As part of the terms, they were allowed to give it an original name, which would be sold at 7-Eleven exclusively.

4. There have been over 300 Slurpee flavors. The most popular ones in the United States are Coca-Cola and Wild Cherry.

5. In 1970, 7-Eleven released a vinyl record with two tracks written just for the Slurpee. The first, "Dance the Slurp", is a catchy tune that was later sampled by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist for their 1999 album "Brainfreeze".

6. There's no difference between Slurpees and Icees. They're both made by the Icee Company, 7-Eleven just has a licensing deal to call them Slurpees.

Oh thank heaven for 7-eleven, and FREE SLURPEES!