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.
Willis Bradley Haviland
Willis Hoag Haviland, a farmer, and his second wife, Hannah Wing Haviland, were first cousins once removed, which caused friction with the Quaker Meeting to which they belonged, ending in severance with the church. Hannah Wing Haviland's half-sister was Ann Elizabeth Button (27 Mar 1823 – 15 Mar 1849), wife of David Jay Haviland (29 Mar 1820 – 13 Aug 1868); they were the parents of Elizabeth R. Haviland (1845–1888) who would marry Duane Williams Carrier and have only child Willis Haviland Carrier in 1876, later the inventor of modern air conditioning technology. Willis Haviland Carrier was named after Willis Hoag Haviland, who after Elizabeth's father's death took care of her before she was married. (Willis Hoag Haviland was also Elizabeth's uncle-in-law.)