#OTD Nov 4, 1879: Druggist, inventor, Thomas Elkins of Albany, NY, received a patent for a "refrigeration apparatus" (Patent No: 221,222) designed to keep food cool. The patent was for an insulated cabinet into which ice is placed to cool the interior. As such, it was a "refrigerator" only in the old sense of the term, which included non-mechanical coolers. Elkins acknowledged in his patent that, "I am aware that chilling substances enclosed within a porous box or jar by wetting its outer surface is an old and well-known process”
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