An engine, a compressor, a condenser. What if you hooked them up to cool the inside of a trailer instead of the inside of a refrigerator? During the hot Minneapolis summer of 1938, Frederick M. Jones created that first Thermo King unit to get freshly-killed chickens to market without spoilage.

His invention worked so well that it spawned entire industries: frozen food, fast food, container shipping. Millions, who had never eaten anything grown beyond a 50-mile radius, now enjoyed the food of the world. Millions more, who had known only marginal, now ate healthy and fresh.

It was a modest invention, but it transformed the expectations of the world. Never again would people be content with mere subsistence. Food became pleasure.