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July 17, 2002

We pause to observe…
Posted by Teresa at 12:59 PM *

…the hundredth anniversary of a great and noble contribution to human well-being. On this date in 1902, Willis Haviland Carrier, all glory to his name, invented air conditioning. Or, to be more precise about it:

On July 17, 1902 [Carrier] designed the first system that provided man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and indoor air quality as a solution to the quality problems experienced at a Brooklyn, N.Y. printing plant, Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company.
A grateful nation pays tribute.
Comments on We pause to observe...:
#1 ::: Christopher Hatton ::: (view all by) ::: July 17, 2002, 03:17 PM:

For me the weird thing about this is that it didn't occur to them, for years and years, that people might WANT to be in AC. The comfort angle took a lot longer to develop.

Hooda thunkyt, eh?

#2 ::: Steve ::: (view all by) ::: July 17, 2002, 04:00 PM:

Poor John Gorrie, forgotten by history...

#3 ::: Greg van Eekhout ::: (view all by) ::: July 17, 2002, 06:41 PM:

Driving through Globe, AZ we noticed that some of the old motor lodges still tempt travelers with the promise of "refrigerated" rooms. Inside our air-conditioned car, we appreciated the technological marvel of it all.

#4 ::: Chris Quinones ::: (view all by) ::: July 18, 2002, 10:39 AM:

I'm just glad to see that the weather in Brooklyn led to _something_ useful.

#5 ::: Kip T. Williams ::: (view all by) ::: July 26, 2002, 04:22 PM:

I was pondering this, and wondering: if A/C hadn't been invented, would I now be sitting in front of a fan, occasionally holding my palms up to it for air drying, saying "You know, the electric fan is the thing that made civilization possible in the South."

As it is, that honor goes to air conditioning and refrigerated drinking fountains.

Kip

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