: In the 1840s, Dr. John Gorrie tried to cool yellow fever patients using compressed air to make ice. He was mocked by the press as a "crank" who thought he could "make ice... as good as God Almighty".
: Thousands of years ago, Egyptians hung wet reeds in windows so the breeze would cool the air through evaporation. History of Air Conditioning - Department of Energy AIR CONDITIONING
Modern air conditioning was not actually invented to keep people cool, but to keep paper dry. In 1902, a young engineer named was working at a Brooklyn printing plant where the summer humidity was causing paper to expand and contract. This ruined the alignment of four-color printing jobs. Carrier designed a system that used chilled coils to pull moisture from the air, unintentionally creating the world’s first electrical air conditioner. : In the 1840s, Dr
: In 1881, to save the dying President James Garfield, engineers blew air over a massive box filled with 6,000 pounds of ice. It lowered the room temperature but used 436 pounds of ice per hour. as good as God Almighty"
Before this breakthrough, attempts to stay cool were often desperate or dangerous: