Birthday profile

Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones, American inventor and entrepreneur (died 1961)

Born
May 17, 1893
Died
February 21, 1961
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1893

About Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones (May 17, 1893 – February 21, 1961) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, engineer, winner of the National Medal of Technology, and an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He innovated mobile refrigeration technology. Jones received 61 patents, including 40 for refrigeration technology, and also revolutionized the cinema industry by creating a superior sound system for projectors at the time. Jones co-founded Thermo King and also served as a sergeant in World War I. Due to his contributions to refrigeration technology, Jones is called the "Father of Refrigerated Transportation", and the "King of Cool". == Early life == Jones was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on May 17, 1893, to an Irish father and African-American mother. Little is known about his mother who left his life when Jones was a child. His father, John Jones, was a railroad worker who struggled to raise him on his own. Jones was raised by a Catholic priest, Father Ryan, at a rectory in Cincinnati, Ohio, near Covington. Father Ryan took in Jones around the age of seven, and two years later, John Jones died. Jones left school at age 11 after the sixth grade.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Frederick McKinley Jones was born

Frederick McKinley Jones was born in 1893. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineWorld's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
  • Technology milestoneFirst Ferris wheel debuts at Chicago World's Fair
  • Notable inventionFerris wheel (264 feet tall)
  • World population~1.53B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGrover Cleveland
  • U.S. population66.0M

1893 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Frederick McKinley Jones's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18932026
Population66.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.