Anyone who has suffered through a hot day has benefitted from the 1902 invention of the air conditioner. The design has changed over the years. However, air conditioners that use the basic concepts of the one invented by Willis Carrier are in widespread use across the world today.
Carrier was born in Angola, New York on Nov. 26, 1876. He studied at Cornell University and graduated in 1901 with a Master of Engineering degree. He then went to work for the Buffalo Forge Company, a company that specialized in heating equipment, as a research engineer. Early in his career, he saved the company over $40,000 a year with the research he conducted.
