Twenty years later, a man named Willis Carrier was born. Carrier introduced a key feature that made the air conditioner we know today a reality.

“Humidity was the secret that eventually made air conditioning so successful,” Ackermann says.

Specifically, removing humidity from the air. It was something Gorrie never did.

Carrier introduced his air conditioner in a New York City printing shop. It allowed the factory to make magazines in the summer without ink running off the pages. His air conditioner took off, and eventually Carrier also came to be known as the father of the air conditioner. His academic research on air conditioning is still considered the gold standard.