July 17, 1902: The Invention of Air-Conditioning

July 17, 1902: Willis Carrier devises the first modern air conditioning system, for a plant in New York City.

Born on November 26, 1876, outside Buffalo in Angola, New York, Willis Haviland Carrier got his Masters of Engineering degree from Cornell University in 1901. The following year, in Buffalo, in response to an air quality problem experienced at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company of Brooklyn, Carrier submitted drawings for what became recognized as the world's first modern air conditioning system. It was so humid in summer that the paper grew and shrank, which resulted in poor quality images, because the color printing process involved running the same piece of paper up to four times, each with a different color ink.

He tested his device thoroughly, finally getting a patent for it in 1906. The Carrier Engineering Corporation was founded in New York in 1915. The company grew, and in 1939, its igloo-shaped pavilion at the New York World's Fair raised its profile. Carrier was still involved with the company that bore his name when he died on October 7, 1950.

In 1980, Syracuse University opened its new on-campus indoor football and basketball stadium. Carrier Corporation contributed $2.75 million to its construction, and the University named it for them, which made sense, since indoor sports venues would not be practical without air conditioning. The stadium was known as the Carrier Dome until 2022. A local mobile phone service provider bought the naming rights, and it was renamed the JMA Wireless Dome.

My mother once told me that the most important invention of the 20th Century wasn't radio, or television, and certainly not the atomic bomb. It was air conditioning. She had a point: It made the growth of the American South and West possible, thus making the growth of the country possible, thus making the defeat of the Nazis possible.

But she also told me that air conditioning didn't become common for a long time. When she was a kid in New York in the early 1950s, the only places that had it were movie theaters and drugstores, the kind that had "soda fountains" and sold candy, comic books and baseball cards. She and her friends would go in, buy a pack of gum for a nickel, split the 5 sticks of gum, and hang out in the air conditioning,

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July 17, 1902 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The Cleveland Bronchos were leading the Boston Americans, 3-2 after 5 innings, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, when the game was called due to rain. The Americans became the Red Sox in 1908. The next season, the Bronchos renamed themselves for their best hitter and 2nd baseman, and even named him their manager: Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie. They became the Cleveland Naps in 1903, the Cleveland Indians in 1915, and the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-4 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia.

* Rain also cut short the game between the St. Louis Browns and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park in Baltimore, ending it 0-0. The Orioles folded at the end of the season, and were replaced by the New York team that would become the Yankees in 1913. After the 1953 season, the Browns moved, becoming... the Baltimore Orioles.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-2 at Boundary Field in Washington.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at the Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati. The ballpark that would eventually be named Crosley Field was built on the site in 1912. Christy Mathewson was the winning pitcher.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Beaneaters, 8-2 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Honus Wagner did not play. The Beaneaters went through some name changes before becoming the Braves in 1912.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-6 at Robison Field in St. Louis.

* And the Brooklyn Superbas and the Chicago Orphans were not scheduled. The Brooklyn team became the Dodgers in 1911. The Chicago team, formerly known as the White Stockings and, for their youth, as the Colts, had long been led by 1st baseman and manager Adrian Constantine Anson. He was known as "Cap," for "Captain," until he got older, and became known as "Pop." He retired after the 1897 season, and the team became known as the "Orphans," because "they missed their Pop." They were renamed the Chicago Cubs in 1903.