Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Timeline

Assembled by Bernard Nagengast for ASHRAE With Additions by Barry Donaldson, Gerald Groff, Dr.-Ing. Wolf Eberhard Kraus, the International Institute of Refrigeration and ASHRAE staff.

1200 B.C.	Underfloor heating used in palace of King Arzawa, Beycesutan, Turkey
80 B.C.	Earliest development of Roman hypocaust by Gaius Sergius Orata. The hypocaust was an underfloor heating system used to heat public baths.
End of 3^rd. Century B.C.	Philon of Byzantium invented an apparatus for measuring temperature.
200	Hot air heating system used by Heliogabalis
8^th to 15^th Centuries	Heating by central hearth (fireplace) in Northern European countries
1347	Earliest written account of the use of a chimney, located in Italy
1550	Doctor, Blas Villafranca, mentioned process for cooling wine and water by adding potassium nitrate
1556	Georgius Agricola - publishes de re Metallica, describing ventilation of mines in Saxony and Brittany by manually operated circular fans and fires at the base of the mine shafts
About 1597	Galileo’s ‘air thermoscope’
Beginning of 17^th Century	Francis Bacon gave several formulae for refrigeration mixtures
1600 to 1664	Louis Savot introduces the fireplace grate. He also was the first to develop rules for proportioning the size of a fireplace. Savot designed a jacketed fireplace that allowed air to circulate around the fireplace, heating it in the process
1624	The word thermometer first appears in literature in a book by J. Leurechon, La Recreation Mathematique
1631	Rey proposed a liquid thermometer (water)
Mid 17^th Century	Alcohol thermometers were known in Florence
1653 to 1660	Sir Hugh Platt publishes Jewel House when he proposes the use of hot water for the drying process in gunpowder mfg. Platt also publishes the Garden of Eden where he describes using steam as a medium for heating the air of a room
1657	The Accademia del Cimento, in Florence, used refrigerant mixtures in scientific research, as did Robert Boyle, in 1662
1662	Robert Boyle established the law linking pressure and volume of a gas a a constant temperature; this was verified experimentally by Mariotte in 1676
1665	Detailed publication by Robert Boyle with many fundamentals on the production of low temperatures.
1685	Philippe Lahire obtained ice in a phial by enveloping it in ammonium nitrate
1697	G.E. Stahl introduced the notion of “phlogiston.” This was replaced by Lavoisier, by the “calorie.”
1702	Guillaume Amontons improved the air thermometer; foresaw the existence of an absolute zero of temperature
1713	Nicholas Gauger: La Mechanique Du Feu - Empirical analysis on the improvement of fireplace design said to be the "Beginning of the theory of ventilation." Translated into English by Dr. John Desaguliers in 1716
1715	Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit developed mercury thermometer
1716	1716 Sir Martin Triewald: Greenhouse heating by hot water
1730	Reamur introduced his scale on an alcohol thermometer
1736	Dr. John Desaguliers introduces his fanning wheel (a hand operated centrifugal blower) to ventilate the House of Commons
1742	Anders Celsius developed Centigrade Temperature Scale, later renamed Celsius Temperature Scale
1745	Col. William Cook: Method of steam heating for warming rooms presented to the Royal Society of London
1745	Benjamin Franklin publishes paper on new invention, the Pennsylvania Fireplace
1748	G. Richmann presented papers on experiments with cold At St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences
1755	William Cullen of Glasgow, Scotland produced cold from fluids evaporated by a vacuum pump.
1755	Hoell noted the strong cooling rate when expanding air in a cylinder (more exact tests by Wilcke in 1770)
1758	Rev. Stephen Hales publishes Treatise on Ventilators. His main concern is with ventilation on ships by using inject/exhaust pumps similar to blacksmith bellows
1760	Von Braun, in Petersburg, froze mercury, using a refrigerant mixture
1761	Joseph Black introduced the notion of latent heat
1766	John Blakey introduces the first water tube boiler
1774	Joseph Priestley isolated ammonia and noticed its great affinity for water
1777	M. Bonneman Paris: First use of hot water to thermostatically heat an incubator for hatching chickens
1779	J.H. Lambert (posthumous note) stated that -270 degrees C was the absolute zero
1783	Laplace suggested that heat was due to movement of molecules of matter
1783	Sir Hugh Platt attempts to heat by steam
1784	Clouet and Monge liquefied a gas (sulfur dioxide) for the first time using low temperatures
1787	J.A.C. Charles showed that all gases, at constant pressure, had the same coefficient of expansion (shown precisely by Gay Lussac, in 1802)
1787	Martinus van Marum liquefied ammonia, by compression
1788	Publications by Blagden on experiments for subcooling water and freezing point depression of hydrous solutions
1788	James Rumsey designs the first successful water-tube boiler and coil type boiler.
1793	Lowitz obtained -50 C by a mixture of snow and calcium chloride
1798	Benjamin, Count of Rumford, Essays. Further studies on fireplace design, roasters, baths, etc., theories of heating, thermal conductivity of building materials, etc. Develops first conclusive evidence that heat is not a substance
1799	Fourcroy and Vauquelin liquefied ammonia, at atmospheric pressure (the experiment was repeated by Guyton de Morveau in 1804)
1803	Dalton announced his “law of partial pressures”
1803	Thomas Moore of Maryland received US patent for refrigerator. First patent issued in US on refrigeration.
1805	Oliver Evans proposed a closed cycle vapor compression refrigeration system in The Young Steam Engineer’s Guide
1805	Frederic Tudor, Boston, founded the natural ice industry.
1810	Robertson Buchanan: Essay on the Economy of Fuel and the Management of Heat
1821	Seebeck discovered the thermoelectric effect for generation of electricity
1821	Jacques Berard – Experiments on storage of fruits in various gas mixtures
1822	Cagniard de la Tour introduced the notion of critical temperature
1823 (and following years)	M. Faraday liquefied a series of gases, including chlorine, SO₂, CO₂, H₂S, NH₂, nitrous oxide
1823	John Leslie constructed a vacuum/absorption freezing apparatus in England.
1824	Sir Thomas Tredgold: Principles of Warming and Ventilating. Theory of fresh air requirement 4 cfm/person
1824	Sadi Carnot, “Reflections on the motive power of fire, and on machines which can develop this power” (concept that all thermal power cycle efficiency is limited by the temperature difference between the source and the sink).
1829	Nathaniel Wyeth received US patent for a horse drawn ice Cutter.
1830	Bi-metal type thermostat invented by Andrew Ure
1831	Angier M. Perkins: English patent for high temperature/pressure hot water heating system
1830’s	Baseboard heating used with Perkins hot water system
1833	Base-burner stove patented by Eliphalet Nott
1834	Jacob Perkins patents mechanical refrigeration machine.
1834	Thilorier solidified carbon dioxide
1834	Peltier described the heating effects of electricity (thermoelectricity) and discovered the reduction of temperature by the thermoelectric effect
1835	Warm air furnace manufactured in Worcester, Massachusetts
1835	Thilorier first produces dry ice
1837	Charles Hood: Published A Practical Treatise -on Warming Buildings by Hot Water, first book on heating by hot water
1842	Dr. John Gorrie proposes comfort cooling of homes, and entire cities in the South using mechanical refrigeration.
1843	Jean Claude Eugène Péclet publishes second edition of Traité de la chaleur, considérée dans ses applications (Heat considered in its applications) that included topics on heating systems and heat transmission
1843	J.P. Joule – Experiments and report on the mechanical equivalent of heat
1844	Dr. John Gorrie proposes an air-cycle refrigerating machine for making ice. (British patent 13234, 1850; US patent 8080, 1851.
1846	Forced air heating system in US installed in US Custom House in Boston
1847	H. Helmholz. Paper on conservation of energy
1848	Dr. David Boswell Reid proposes air-conditioning in British House of Parliament using cool well water and by ice and deodorizing bactericides
1848	Alexander Catlin Twining began experiments with vapor- compression refrigeration and ice making . Caveat filed with US Patent Office in 1849. British Patent 13167 of 1850. US Patent 10,221 of 1853
1849	Charles Piazzi Smyth presents results of experiments with air-cycle refrigeration to Royal Society of Edinburgh
1850	Alexander Twining proposes carbon dioxide as a refrigerant in British Patent 13167 of 1850.
1850	R.J.E. Clausius put forward the modern version of Carnot’s Principle and introduced the notion of entropy (the word was not used until 1865)
1852	William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) introduced the thermodynamic scale of temperature and described the concept of a “heat pump,” for heating a house
1854	James Harrison began experimenting with vapor compression for ice making in Victoria, Australia. Victoria Patent 25/55 in 1855. British Patents 747 of 1856 and 2362 of 1857. A dozen of his machines were in operation in 1861.
1855	von Rittinger (Austria) – Installation of mechanical vapor recompression heat pump for salt production First commercial ice making plant using vapor compression refrigeration constructed in Cleveland, Ohio by Alexander Twining.
1858	First refrigerated railway transport (U.S.)
1860	Ferdinand Carré patented aqua-ammonia absorption refrigeration. British Patent 2503 of 1860. US Patent 30201 of 1860
1860-61	D.I. Mendelev introduced the notion of the critical state as the “absolute temperature of vaporization”
1861	Meat freezing plant, Sydney, Australia
1860s	Commercial fan type warm air heating and ventilating systems marketed by B.F. Sturtevant Company, Boston
1862	Thomas Andrews established the critical state of CO₂
1862	Closed air-cycle refrigerating system by Alexander Kirk
1864	Scientific American publishes article proposing comfort cooling system for hospitals.
1864	American Artisan began publishing. This was the first “trade magazine” featuring articles and information on heating
1865	Daniel Somes publishes pamphlet promoting his system for cooling hotels, theaters, halls and churches.
1866	Lewis W. Leeds lectures on ventilation at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. Published 1868 by John Wiley & Sons, N.Y.
1867	Daniel Livingston Holden began constructing ice making Plants using chymogene (petroleum ether) refrigerant.
1867	Carbon dioxide refrigerating system patented by Thaddeus Lowe (British Patent 952)
1867	J.B. Sutherland, Detroit – Refrigerated wagon (ice) patented
1868	Thomas Box published A Practical Treatise on Heat that included theories of heat loss, thermal resistance and U factors.
1868	Methyl ether used as a refrigerant by Charles Tellier
1868	Frederick Edwards: Ventilation of Dwelling Houses
1868	Ammonia vapor-compression ice making plant constructed by John Beath in San Francisco
1869	Double acting ammonia compressor constructed in New Orleans by Francis DeCoppet
1869	Forced air cooler for refrigeration patented by Charles Tellier
1870	Peter Van der Weyde patented thermostatically controlled refrigeration system (US Patent 105609)
1870	Carl Linde publishes paper using a rigorous thermodynamic approach to refrigeration: The Extraction of Heat at LowTemperature by Mechanical Means.
1872	Ammonia vapor-compression ice making system perfected by David Boyle
1875	Cold storage plant using mechanical refrigeration by Thomas Mort of Australia
1875	Sulfur Dioxide refrigerant successfully used as a refrigerant by Raoul Pictet in Switzerland. British Patent 2727.
1876	First intercontinental refrigerated transport by ship (U.K.)
1876	Covered ice-skating rink, Chelsea, England.
1877	Birdsill Holly, "the father of district steam heating" experiments with central station steam heating in Lockport, N.Y.
1877	Louis Cailletet liquefied oxygen by expansion (as a fog). A similar result was obtained shortly afterwards for nitrogen, air, methane, carbon dioxide
1877	Raoul Pictet liquefied oxygen by cascade cooling, obtaining a transitory jet
1877	Enclosed crankcase compressor using piston wrist-pins patented by Alexander Ballentine (US Patent 191638)
1877	Leicester Allen built a high pressure (15 bar) closed cycle air refrigerating machine
1876-77	F. Windhausen built the first industrial water vapor refrigerating machines (from studies made in 1870)
1878	Methyl Chloride successfully used as a refrigerant by Camille Vincent of France. (British Patent 470 of 1879)
1878	Vacuum return steam heating patented by De Beaumont.
1878	First refrigerated morgue (Paris – Carré’s absorption machine)
1878	Solar powered absorption refrigeration machine demonstrated at Paris Universal Exposition by Augustin Mouchot
1879	Charles Tellier used refrigerated ship Le Frigorifique to send meat from France to South America
1880	The theory and practice of centrifugal ventilating machines by Daniel Murgue, the first scientific book on fans
1880	Use of cork as insulating material for cold stores patented by GRÜNZWEIG
1881	Kamerlingh Onnes founded the Leyden cryological laboratory
1882	Electric Fan marketed by Schuyler Skaats Wheeler
1883	Warren S. Johnson - July 23, 1883 receives patent for a room thermostat called an "electric tele-thermoscope"
1883	Ethyl Chloride vapor-refrigerating system patented by Cassius Palmer (US Patent 290600)
1883	K. Olszewski and S. Wrobleski liquefied oxygen in a permanent form and later obtained the same result for nitrogen and carbon dioxide
1884	Sir Oliver Lodge - first electrostatic precipitator for air cleaning
ca. 1885	Ideas on the use of refrigeration for air-cooling and dehumidification of private buildings specially in hot countries. (Smith, Pettenkofer, Linde, Brückner).
1885	Electro-pneumatic type thermostatic control system patented by Warren Johnson
1885	Compound ammonia compressor – W.G. Lock’s Australian patent
1886	T.B. Lightfoot, of London, produced a list of various refrigerant mixtures
1886	Albert M. Butz patents thermostatically controlled draft damper for furnaces and boilers
1886	F. Windhausen constructed an operational CO₂ refrigerating comnpressor
1887	J. & E. Hall – industrial manufacture of CO₂ compressors
1889	J. & E. Hall – First two-stage CO₂ compressor
1889	Domestic Engineering published as the first US trade journal devoted exclusively to the plumbing and heating trade
1889	Sulzer: First industrially manufactured two-stage ammonia refrigerating compressor. Another type (Stuart St. Clair) was made by York in 1892
1889	Downward distribution system for conditioned air used by Alfred Wolff at Carnegie Hall. Subsequently used by Wolff in all his air conditioning systems
1890	Concept of heating load calculation introduced into US practice by consulting engineer Alfred Wolff
1891	The trade journal Ice and Refrigeration began publishing
1891	Thermostatic type steam trap patented
1891	Massachusetts Ventilation Law
ca. 1891	Broadway Theater, New York, comfort cooled using ice
1892	First air-conditioned house in U.S. San Lorenzo, CA by M. Dillenberg of San Francisco
1893	Committee to define “standard ton of refrigeration” established by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1893	Oil fired boilers used to heat buildings at Chicago World’s Fair
1894	Hans Lorenz introduced the polytropic cycle
1894	Hermann Rietschel publishes a Guide for the Calculation and Design for Ventilating and Heating Installations. The first HVAC engineering textbook that took a scientific approach to heating and cooling, including a chapter on comfort cooling of rooms.
1894	American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers founded by Hugh Barron, Louis Hart and William Mackay.
1894	Hermetically sealed refrigeration system patented by Marcel Audiffren in France (French Patent 238845). Manufactured after 1903 in France by Henri Singrün.
1895	Chicago Telephone Co. installed air washer to cool, filter and humidify the air at its exchange building.
1895	“Bypass method” of air conditioning first proposed – by S. Woodbridge for cooling Senate Wing of U.S. Capitol
1895	Hampson, Linde – First Joule-Thomson air liquefiers.
1898	Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers founded in Great Britain
1899	Cornell Medical College, New York, partially air conditioned with system designed by Alfred Wolff using Carbondale ammonia absorption equipment
1899	Use of liquid air in dermatology (A.C. White, in New York). In 1908 M.C. Query, in Paris, used it to treat eczema. Practical use in dermatology only after 1940.
1900	Linde – Air liquefier with ammonia precooling
ca 1900	Dental anesthesia by vaporization of refrigerants
1900	Passenger compartment air conditioning installed on 6 Mississippi river steamships.
1900	Warren Johnson invents the “humidostat”
1901	Auditorium of Scranton High School comfort cooled using ice.
1901	300 ton co-generation comfort air conditioning system installed at New York Exchange. System designed by Alfred Wolff. Used absorption refrigeration machinery designed by Henry Torrance, Carbondale Machine Co.
1902	Claude – First expansion engine air liquefier.
1902	Linde – Single-stage rectification column.
1902	Armour Building, Kansas City MO, installed dual-duct air conditioning system; each room individually controlled with a thermostat
1902	Research lab for fans and air heating and cooling established by Buffalo Forge Co., Buffalo NY
1902	Air conditioning system for precise humidity control designed by Willis Carrier for a Brooklyn, NY printing plant.
1903	Multiple-effect compression system developed by Gardner T. Voorhees. US Patent 793864 of 1905.
1903	Formation of the Ice Machine Builders Association of the United States (forerunner to ARI-1953)
1903	Use of solid carbon dioxide in dermatology (M. Julinsberg, Germany)
1904	Public debut of air conditioning: Missouri State Building, St. Louis World's Fair
1904	Self-contained mechanical refrigerator displayed at St. Louis World’s Fair by Brunswick Refrigerating Co.
1904	First air conditioned bank: Hanover National Bank, New York, by Alfred Wolff
1904	American Society of Refrigerating Engineers founded
1904	Introduction of enthalpy and plotting of calculation of compression refrigerating machines by R. Mollier.
1904	Thermodynamic properties of carbon dioxide and ammonia are published
1905	Modern type Automatic Expansion Valve patented by Albert Marshall (US Patent 785265)
1905	Willis Carrier’s Psychrometric Chart first published in Buffalo Forge Co. catalog
1906	Willis Carrier patents "Apparatus for Treating Air".
1906	The term "air conditioning" coined by Stuart Cramer
1906	Clock (night setback) Thermostat by Jewell Thermostat Co. and Electric Thermostat Co.
1906	Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building, Chicago. First office building specifically designed to accommodate the “paraphernalia” of air conditioning. Used Kroeschell Carbon Dioxide system.
1906	Brooklyn Bridge subway station air conditioned.
1906	Walter Fleisher designs first air conditioning system for a tobacco factory
1906	Freeze-drying. Discovery of the process by A. d’Arsonval and F. Bordas (France). The method was discovered independently by Shackwell (U.S.A.) in 1909.
1906	Claude – Improved air separation with reflux column.
1906	Heylandt – High pressure expander for air and oxygen liquefaction.
1906	First hospital to be air conditioned: Boston Floating Hospital
1906	Walter Nernst – Theory of the behavior of matter in the neighborhood of absolute zero (“Third law” of Thermodynamics). In 1912 he produced a new formula: absolute zero is in principle unattainable.
1907	Air conditioning installed in dining and meeting rooms at Congress (Auditorium) Hotel, Chicago, using Carbon Dioxide equipment designed by Frederick Wittenmeier.
1907	“Unit Ventilator” featuring a fan and radiator enclosed in a steel cabinet invented by M. Hubbard. Designed for under the window, manufactured by Herman Nelson Company after 1922
1907	Willis Carrier patents “dew point control” system for precisely controlling humidity in a room.
1908	Elements of year-round air conditioning defined by G. B. Wilson (heating, cooling, humidifying, dehumidifying, filtering)
1908	First International Congress of Refrigeration, Paris
1908	Maurice Leblanc – Steam jet refrigerating machine (made by Westinghouse in 1909, in Paris)
1909	German Society of Refrigerating Engineers (DKV) founded
1909	Open air ice skating rink using brine, Vienna, Austria
1909	A sliding vane compressor (ethyl chloride) was in use on an American ship, the Carnegie
1911	Constant superheat (thermostatic) expansion incorporated in a multiple evaporator refrigeration system patented by Albert Marshall (US Patent 1003283)
1912	Underwriter’s Laboratories lists a domestic oil burner for the first time
1913	First International Refrigeration Exposition held in Chicago
1913	M. T. Zarotschenzeff began experiments in quick freezing using salt water sprays
1913	E. Altenkirch- Comprehensive thermodynamic study of binary mixtures for absorption refrigerating machines
1914	Air cooled electric self-contained household refrigerating unit, the DOMELRE, marketed by Fred Wolf Jr.
1914	Water-cooled self-contained household refrigerating unit marketed by Edward Williams
1914	Kelvinator founded – household refrigeration unit marketed 1918.
1916	Average employee has to work 3162 hours to pay for a refrigerator.
1916	St. Louis Coliseum uses 12 tons of ice to cool air that was blown "…through conduits into the hall, above the heads of the gathered throng" at the Democratic National Convention.
1916	Clarence Birdseye began experiments in quick-freezing using air blasts
1917	Beginnings of the popularity of gas-fired boilers
1918-30	First insulated containers (France, U.K., Italy)
1919	ASHVE Research Bureau founded
1920	Hermetic motor-compressor patented by Douglas Stokes of Australia (US Patent 1362757)
1920	W.S.E. Rolaff – Rolling piston rotary compressor, first manufactured by Norge in Detroit as “Rollator” using sulfur dioxide refrigerant.
1921	Sulzer – “Frigorotor” sliding-vane compressor, for methyl chloride.
1922	ASHVE Guide first published
1922	V-belt drive first applied to refrigeration systems
1922	Willis Carrier built prototype centrifugal compressor equipped chiller using carbon tetrachloride. Changed refrigerant to dichloroethylene in 1923.
1923	Electrically refrigerated ice cream cabinet marketed by Nizer
1924	Rich’s Department Store, Atlanta, completely air conditioned
1925	Adsorption refrigerating machine using silica gel/SO₂
1925	Reuben Trane develops the first successful convector radiator
1925	The Aerologist, the first air conditioning trade journal, published by E. Vernon Hill.
1926	Gas fired absorption household refrigerator marketed by A.B Elektrolux in Sweden. Mfg. Under license in US by Servel after 1927
1926	Giauque, Debye - Adiabatic demagnetization cooling
1926	R. Follain – Multi-stage steam jet refrigerating machine (made in 1928 by S.C.A. M. in Paris)
1926	Carrier "Weathermaker" A high efficiency residential gas furnace incorporating a blower and filter invented by Carlyle Ashley. Marketed beginning in 1928.
1926	The first national Heating and Ventilating Exposition held at Madison Square Garden, New York
1927	Capillary tube refrigerant control invented by Thomas Carpenter (US Patent 1919500)
1927	Crosley Icy Ball portable aqua-ammonia absorption Refrigeration unit for rural areas
1927	Modern type “thermostatic expansion valve” patented by Harry Thompson (US Patent 1747958)
1928	Radiant panel heating introduced in US
1928	Clorofluorocarbon refrigerants synthesized by General Motors Research Lab team of Thomas Midgley, Albert Henne and Robert McNary for Frigidaire. Announced publicly in 1930
1928	Electrically refrigerated vending machine by Vendometer Corporation of New York
1929	Heat Pipe for heating systems patented by Frazer W. Gay US patent 1725906
1929	Frigidaire introduces split system room cooler
1930	Keesom – Discovery of superfluidity.
1930	Railroad passenger terminal, Cleveland OH, air conditioned
1930	Kelvinator refrigeration unit used to comfort cool a customized Cadillac automobile.
1930	Railroad passenger terminal, Cleveland OH, air conditioned
1930	I. Amundsen – Domestic adsorption refrigerator (activated carbon: methyl alcohol)
1930	1^st International Heating and Ventilating Exposition held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ca 1930	Sulzer conceived the “dry piston” compressor
ca. 1930-35	First market survey of air conditioning “…sent to 2000 high grade men and 500 high grade women.” By Time Magazine
1931	Georges Ranque discovered the production of cold by the vortex effect. “French patent, 1933)
1931	Rockefeller Center designed with air conditioning.
1931	Southern California Edison C. installed a heat pump air conditioning system in its Los Angeles office building
1932	Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad begins running first overnight train with air conditioning, the between New York and Washington.
1932	G. Maiuri – Multi-stage ammonia absorption machine
1933	Package heat pump air conditioner marketed by De La Vergne
1934	Six air-conditioned homes displayed at "Century of Progress" Chicago World's Fair.
1934	Lysholm conceived the screw compressor (with two rotors)
1935	934 air conditioning installations reported in Chicago. Includes 171 offices, 143 restaurants, 136 theaters, 90 stores, and 69 restaurants.
1935	48 tract homes constructed in Washington DC that featured year – round General Electric air conditioning.
1935	Freeze-drying. Paper by E.W. Flosdorff and S. Mudd (U.S.) described freeze-drying equipment developed by them in previous years.
1935	Air-Conditioning Manufacturers Association was formed in the U.S.
ca 1935	Small electromagnetic refrigerating compressor developed by W. Konig.
1936	United Air Lines uses air conditioning in its "three mile a minute" passenger planes.
1936	Crosley Radio Corp. markets air-conditioned bed.
1936	Albert Henne, co-inventor of the Chlorofluorocarbon Refrigerants, synthesizes refrigerant R-134a. This refrigerant was hailed in the 1980’s as the best non-ozone depleting replacement for the most commonly used Chlorofluorocarbon.
1937	High-pressure air-conditioning system "Conduit Weathermaster" first installed. Designed by Carlyle Ashley and Willis Carrier.
1937	A.A. Berestneff – “Kathabar” open absorption refrigerating system (water: lithium chloride)
1937	Kapitza, Allen – Theory of superfluid helium
1938	Window type air conditioners marketed.
1938	Modern Electrostatic air filter patented by Gaylord Penney. US patent 2129783
1938	U.S. Capitol, Senate Office Building, Old and New House Office Buildings completely air-conditioned by York Ice Machinery Co. At that time, the largest air conditioning system in the world.
1939	Packard markets first successful year-round auto air conditioning system.
1939	Freeze-drying of penicillin. First experiments in Great Britain. Industrial preparation in 1943.
1940	Freeze-drying of blood plasma. Semi-industrial preparation in the U.S.
ca 1940	Absorption refrigerating machine using lithium bromide: water. Studies by Servel and Carrier.
ca 1940	Non-lubricated piston compressor, with Teflon rings impregnated with graphite
1942	Heat pipe invented by R.S. Gaugler,( U.S. patent 1944)
1944	Air cycle refrigerating machine used to cool an airplane (Lockheed)
1945-50	Introduction of insulating foams
1947	43,000 Window Air Conditioners sold in the U.S.
1949	Peltier – Thermoelectric domestic refrigerator. A.F. Ioffe’s first thermocooling modules were made in 1938.
1949-50	Introduction of deep hypothermia in experimental surgery: J. Giaja and R.K. Andjus (Yugoslavia) and W.G. Bigelow (Canada). First tried in 1939 in the U.S.A. by C.A. Kossman.
ca 1950	Prototype absorption refrigerating machines heated by solar energy, notably by G. Lof.
ca 1950	Beginning of commercial development of heat pumps (U.S.) - 2000 made in 1954, 76,000 in 1963, 300,000 in 1976.
1952	Less than 1 % of U.S. homes have a room air conditioner.
1952	360,000 window air conditioners sold that year.
ca 1952	J. Donald Kroeker – Heat pump installations on office buildings and shopping centers using ground water as the heat source.
1953	Two associations, the Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association (REMA) and the Air- Conditioning and Refrigerating Machinery Association (ACRMA), unite to become the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI)
ca 1955	Penrod – studies of earth heat pumps
1957	1^st development of scroll compressor
ca 1958	Screw compressors used industrially, for refrigeration.
1958	First ARI performance rating standard for heat pumps is published.
1958	ARI initiates first product rating performance certification program for unitary air conditioners. ARI certification “seal” is introduced.
1958	In December, members of ASRE and ASHAE vote to merge into the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
1959	Establishment of CECOMAF: European committee of manufacturers of refrigeration equipment
1966	First air-conditioned school with no windows (New York)
1967	B. Zimmern – Single screw air compressor
1968-72	R-22 becomes standard refrigerant for unitary air conditioners and heat pumps
1969	54% of new cars equipped with air conditioning
1972	ARI and ASHRAE combine forces for the first co sponsored International Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Exposition
1975	Fixed orifice expansion devices introduced for unitary air conditioners
1975	ASHRAE Standard 90-75, “Energy Conservation in New Building Design” has a major impact on U.S. building codes.
1975	ARI’s Unitary Equipment Directory features energy efficiency ratios (EER) for the first time.
1976	Indoor Air Quality becomes a big issue following the outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in a Philadelphia hotel.
1979	The U.S. Department of Energy calls on ASHRAE to help implement the “Emergency Building Temperature Restrictions” program.
1980	Scroll compressors developed for unitary air conditioner application
1986	Air conditioning joins list of inventions immortalized in the national Inventors Hall of Fame in the U.S.
1990	Parties to Montreal Protocol agree in London to amendments that eliminate CFC use and production by the year 2000.
1990s	Development of pulse-tube cryocoolers
1992	Montreal Protocol revised to advance CFC phaseout to end of 1995, with HCFCs to be phased out in steps by 2030.
1993-94	Automobile air conditioners transition to R-134a refrigerant
1994	Eurovent established the first industry certification program for air-conditioning equipment in Europe.
1995	R-410a introduced as refrigerant for unitary air conditioners
1999	A major history exhibit on air-conditioning, “Stay Cool! Air-Conditioning America” opened at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC.
2001	The Global Refrigerants Environmental Evaluation Network (GREEN) program was inaugurated as a global testing program to evaluate the performance of hydrocarbon and hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in HVAC&R equipment.

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Timeline

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