Is Ice a Mineral?
Yes, Ice is a mineral and has been formally described in Dana's "System of Mineralogy".
[www.livescience.com]

Riddle of Water and Ice
You have water, and you have ice. You freeze the water, and after it is frozen, you get the ice. Have you ever thought why :

1.  A Coca-Cola can bursts out when frozen? OR
2.  The ice trays are left a little bit empty before they are kept in freezer? OR
3.  A closed bottle is not filled up to the brim with water when it needs to be frozen? OR
4.  When the ice is melted in a cup, its water doesn't overflow? (see below for their answers)

Because water expands when frozen. How do you know how much this water expands when frozen? The volume of the ice is 10% more than the water kept for freezing. So the ice is only 10% more, that is why 10% space should be left empty when any liquid is frozen. And that is why when ice is melted, its water takes less space than ice - how much? only 10% less.

Another Fact About Water and Ice - Iceberg
You must have read and heard about icebergs in your geography class and you must have seen some picture or photograph of the iceberg too. Have you heard the saying, "You are seeing only the tip of the iceberg.". This saying is 100% true, because when you see any iceberg you see only its tip - "tip" means "very little", and you are really seeing very little of the iceberg. because its most part is inside the water. Now can you guess how much you are seeing above the water? 50%? 40%? 20%? Only 10%. 90% of the iceberg is inside the water. One should be very careful about the iceberg, because you can never guess about the iceberg.

Which Shape of Ice is Melted First?
You are a shape lover. You have frozen your colored sweet water in different shapes - round like a ball, squares, thin rectangles, cylinders etc. All shapes have equal amount of water. Now you have distributed those shapes to your friends - one shape to one friend and another shape to another friend. Whose ice will melt first? Whoever's shape is the widest and longest in area. Thus the ball like shape will take longer time to melt than the thin rectangle one.

Its corollary is, that if you want to keep water in frozen shape for longer time, freeze it in balls. They will stay as ice for longer time.

Why Doesn't the Water Come Out of the Cup When Ice Cubes are Melted in it?
As you have known above that ice has larger volume than water, how much it is? It is 1/10th of the water. And only 1/10th part of a floating iceberg can be seen above water. When the ice is frozen, its volume is increased 1/10th time. In the same way when the ice melts, its volume is decreased 1/10th time. Therefore the water from  melted ice will take only that much space, whatever it took when it was floating as ice. Thus the water from melted ice cubes cannot overflow the cup,
UNLESS THE CUP IS ALSO OVERFILLED WITH ICE CUBES.

Can You Make Ice Without Refrigerator?
Now a days most people have refrigerator in their homes. So you keep water in refrigerator and after some time the ice is ready to be used. But think of a little over a century before. How people froze their water? Or from where they made their ice cream?

Before mechanical refrigeration system was introduced, people used to cool their foods with ice and snow either found locally or brought from mountains. The first coolers were the holes dug in the ground, lined with wood or straw packed with ice and snow. The first well known artificial  refrigeration was demonstrated in Glasgow in 1748, but it could not be put in use until an American introduced a refrigeration machine in 1805. But it was not until about 1929 that the modern refrigeration came into existence.

Yes, you can make ice without your refrigerator. But how? It is a very old trick. Now what we are going to tell you, it was known perhaps, at some point, to Chinese in 14th century or to Italians in 17th century that a container placed in salted water would stay cool for longer time than usual. On the same principle, if you put a small jar of sweet milk in a large bucket or pan and fill the empty space around it with ice and sprinkle a lot of salt on the ice. After 20-30 minutes you will find that your sweet milk has started freezing. So it is the salt that helps the things freeze, and keep them cool for longer time. Only after mixing salt or something else in the ice, the temperature of ice will not go higher than 32 degree Fahrenheit. This temperature point is required to freeze water.

Why Can't You Skate on Glass?
Glass is more slippery than ice, then why can't you skate on glass? Because when you skate on ice, their blades melt the ice under them, and you can slip on water easily. Thus when you are skating on ice, you are not skating on ice, but on water. But mind it, you cannot skate in river. Why? Because even if you are skating on water, when you are skating on ice, still there is hard surface below your skates, but in river that hard surface is not be there to put your foot on.

How Much Would Sea Rise If The Whole Antarctica Ice Sheet Melted?
Can You Guess? Antarctica Ice Sheet holds nearly 90% of the world's ice and 70% of freshwater. If the entire ice melted, it would rise the sea level by 220 feet (almost 10-story building high. Scientists say that by 2100 the sea would rise above 3 feet.
[Yahoo, 5/17/2008]

First Ice in India
The first ice arrived in India, in Kalkattaa, Bangaal in 1833 from New England, USA. Then Frederic Tudor of Boston discovered that it would remain frozen if covered in sawdust. So Tudor started cutting ice blocks in New England winter and transporting them all around the world. The "Ice House" in Madraas was built in early 1840s and survived for about 30 years until refrigeration was invented. Later it was named "Vivekaanand House".
[India Handbook, p 868-888]