WAS THERE ANYTHING SHE COULDN’T DO? Margaret Thatcher Helped Invent Soft-Serve Ice Cream. “As a chemist for food manufacturer J. Lyons and Co. in the 1940s, Thatcher was part of the British research term that made soft-serve ice possible, according to The Washington Post’s Caitlin Dewey, citing a 1983 New Scientist article. Thatcher, and colleagues, invented a way add more air into the ice cream so that it was less dense and used less ingredients, which also made it more cost-effective. The new formula also made it possible to push ice cream through a machine as soft-serve in the signature swirl we’re familiar with today.”