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| History Timeline |
| 1920: The Soaring 20s
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 By the 1920s, the household refrigerator has become an essential piece of kitchen furniture. In 1921, 5,000 mechanical refrigerators are manufactured in the U.S. Within 10 years that number grows past one million. By 1935, there are nearly six million. While the refrigerators don't change much, it's the refrigerants that keep improving with the times. In 1921, Clarence Birdseye discovers the technique for quick-freezing. However, decades of development remain before the Jolly Green Giant could flourish in his ice-cold realm.
By 1923, there are 56 companies making refrigerators, all using toxic and/or flammable materials such as sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride or ammonia gasses.
As the mid-20s approached, air conditioning is installed in movie theaters, hotels and departments stores but rarely in office buildings. Skyscrapers like the Woolworth and Chrysler buildings continue to rely on nature for lighting and ventilation. However, in 1928, San Antonio's Milam Building is advertised as the first fully air-conditioned office building in the U.S.
Led by 27-year-old Belgian chemist Albert Henne, scientists struggle to expand on the primitive discoveries of Scheele (1771) and Moissan, who isolated elementary fluorine in 1886. CF4, the simplest perfluorocarbon, is finally isolated in 1926 but would not be characterized for another four years.
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