Something New

[Eva Elisabeth]

I couldn't get the question of the history of artificial ice making out of my mind, so I did a little research, and hope it's ok. I share some milestones:

BC
- 1000: The Chinese cut and stored ice.
- 500: Egyptians and Indians made ice on cold nights by setting water out in earthenware pots.

AD
- At some point, perhaps in fourteenth century China or seventeenth century Italy, it was discovered that the evaporation of brine (salt water) absorbed heat and therefore a container placed in brine would stay cold.

- 1700: In England, servants collected ice in the winter and put it into icehouses for use in the summer.

- 1720: Dr. William Cullen, a Scotsman, studied the evaporation of liquids in a vacuum.

- 1748: The first known artificial refrigeration was demonstrated by William Cullen at the University of Glasgow.

-1800: Maryland engineer Thomas Moore coined the term "refrigerator" for his device that would now be called an "ice box" — a cedar tub, insulated with rabbit fur, filled with ice, surrounding a sheet metal container. Moore designed it as as a means for transporting butter from rural Maryland to Washington, DC. Its operating principle was the latent heat of fusion associated with melting ice.

- 1805: Oliver Evans of Pennsylvania designed a compressed ether machine, the machine is never built.

- 1820: Michael Faraday (remember the cage you seek in thunderstorms...) liquified ammonia to cause cooling.

- 1843: Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia received the first U.S. patent for a small-scale hand-cranked ice cream freezer (which Laurie mentioned in post #30). These machines comprise an outer bowl, and a smaller inner bowl with a hand-cranked mechanism which turns a paddle, sometimes called a dasher, to stir the mixture. The outer bowl is filled with a freezing mixture of salt and ice. Adding salt to the ice causes freezing-point depression. As salt melts the ice, the heat of fusion allows the ice to absorb heat from the ice cream mixture, which freezes the ice cream.
   
- 1844: American physician John Gorrie*, built a refrigerator based on Oliver Evans' design to make ice to cool the air for his yellow fever patients. In 1851, he was awarded US Patent 8080 for an ice machine.

- 1853: Alexander Twining was awarded US Patent 10221 for an icemaker. In 1855, James Harrison received a similar patent for an icemaker in Australia.

- 1855: Dr. Gorrie built a compression refrigeration system based on Faraday's experiments.

- 1867: Andrew Muhl built an ice-making machine in San Antonio, Texas, to help service the expanding beef industry. In 1873, the patent for this machine was contracted by the Columbus Iron Works, which produced the world's first commercial icemakers.

- 1873: German scientist-entrepreneur Carl von Linde built the first practical and portable compressor refrigeration machine in Munich - for a brewery, of course! He invented a continuous process of liquefying gases in large quantities that formed a basis for the modern technology of refrigeration. (The Linde AG, founded in 1878, today is the oldest German engineering company still in operation.)

Two "cool" trivia:
- A Monitor Top refrigerator was sent on a submarine voyage to the North Pole with Robert Ripley (the originator of 'Believe It or Not') in 1928, the year after its introduction.
- The millionth Monitor Top refrigerator was presented to Henry Ford in a special radio broadcast in 1931.

* Since I think this man deserves to be known (sorry - just a "wiki"- summary, the previous was not):
   
John Gorrie (Oct. 3, 1803 - June 29, 1855) was a physician, scientist, inventor, and humanitarian. Born on the Island of Nevis to Scottish parents on October 3, 1803, he spent his childhood in South Carolina. He received his medical education at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York in Fairfield, New York. In 1833, he moved to Apalachicola, Florida. Despite being resident physician at two hospitals, he served (at various times) as a council member, Postmaster, President of the Bank of Pensacola's Apalachicola Branch, Secretary of the Masonic Lodge, and was one of the founding vestrymen of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Dr. Gorrie's medical research involved the study of tropical diseases. At the time the theory that bad air caused diseases was a prevalent hypothesis and based on this theory, he urged draining the swamps and the cooling of sickrooms. For this he cooled rooms with ice in a basin suspended from the ceiling. Cool air, being heavier, flowed down across the patient and through an opening near the floor. Since it was necessary to transport ice by boat from the northern lakes, Gorrie experimented with making artificial ice.

After 1845, he gave up his medical practice to pursue refrigeration projects. On May 6, 1851, Gorrie was granted Patent No. 8080 for a machine to make ice. Impoverished, Gorrie sought to raise money to manufacture his machine, but the venture failed when his partner died. Humiliated by criticism, financially ruined, and his health broken, Gorrie died in seclusion on June 29, 1855.

Another version of Gorrie’s “cooling system” was used when President James A. Garfield was dying in 1881. Naval engineers built a box filled with cloths that had been soaked in melted ice water. Then by allowing hot air to blow on the cloths it decreased the room temperature by 20℉. The problem with this method was essentially the same problem Gorrie had. It required an enormous amount of ice to keep the room cooled continuously. Yet it was an important event in the history of air conditioning. It proved that Dr. Gorrie had the right idea, but unfortunately was unable to capitalize on it.

Dr. Gorrie may have also invented the ice cube tray in its current form.

(Got a bit lengthy - sorry.)