The air-condition or the AC, the electrical appliance that is practically used just about everywhere from houses, offices, vehicles and many other places to tackle the sveltering heat has a father. An American engineer by the name of Willis Carrier, who while working at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company, a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York came up with a rather unique solution to a quality problem experienced at the firm.

Picture for representational purposes

Carrier used his knowledge of heating objects with steam and reversed it by sending water through cold coils (filled with cold water) instead of hot coils, which cooled the air thereby enabling the amount of moisture to be controlled. This made the humidity in the room controllable, and it helped maintain consistent paper dimensions and ink alignment.

Willis Carrier was granted a patent on his invention on January 2 1906, four years after his invention of the air-conditioner. He termed his creation, 'Appartus for Treating Air.' Career is believed to have made the world's first spray-type air-conditioning equipment, which humidified or dehumidified air, heating water for the first and cooling it for the second.