Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945)
Air conditioning is the cooling and de-humidification of indoor air for thermal comfort. Using a system of coils as a solution to cool and remove moisture from muggy air in a printing plant that was wrinkling magazine pages, Willis Carrier invented and manufactured the world's first mechanical air conditioning unit in 1902. Carrier's invention – encompassing the first system to provide man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality, was first installed as a solution to the quality problems experienced at a Brooklyn printing plant, Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company. Air conditioning not only spawned a company and an industry, but also brought about profound economic, social and cultural changes.
Charles Gilbert Gates
Charles Gilbert Gates was the son of John Warne Gates, the pioneer manufacturer of barbed wire. In July 1913 he drove from his home in Minneapolis to New York City, where he had a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. He died in Cody, Wyoming in 1913. After his death his home was completed and was the first to have air conditioning installed.