World Refrigeration Day is on June 26, and we are all set to celebrate and appreciate the refrigeration sector for making our lives better than ever before! Did you know that the first mechanical refrigerator was made more than 300 years ago? Before that, people depended on storing edibles in cellars or underwater to keep them cool and safe from bacteria. Modern refrigeration revolutionized the way of living, and it is considered an essential part of life. Now nearly all households in the United States have at least one refrigerator, according to a 2009 report by the U.S Department of Energy.
Refrigeration completely changed the way people live their lives. It gave them comfort, better food and drink storage options, and even helped in saving lives. This wonder of science and technology is everywhere around us. It helps the surgeon operate in air-conditioned hospitals, which reduces the possibility of infection by bacteria, our food and drinks remain safe to consume even after weeks, it is used in spaceships to control the temperature, and it is even used for sports! On World Refrigeration Day, we celebrate the wonder of refrigeration. It was first celebrated on June 26, 2019.
Refrigeration has always been a necessity for people through the ages. People in China used to cut and store ice around 1000 B.C. Indians and Egyptians kept earthen pots outside at night to form ice. In the 18 century, Europeans wrapped salted ice in flannel and kept it underground.
The onset of modern refrigeration started with William Cullen, who observed the cooling tendency of the evaporation process in 1720. In 1835, Jacob Perkins, the “father of the refrigerator,” was granted the first patent for a vapor compression cycle, which used liquid ammonia. The title of his patent was “apparatus and means for producing ice, and in colling fluids.”
The popularity of refrigeration grew by leaps and bounds in the 19 century. It was widely used first by breweries and then by the meat industry. Slowly it became essential for normal households.
