By Tim Lambert
In July 1911 Britain, and other parts of the world were struck by a heatwave. The temperature in Cambridge reached 36.7 degrees centigrade.
On 10 July 1913, in Death Valley, California, a temperature of 56.7 degrees centigrade (134 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded. It was the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
On 24 July 1935, temperatures in Chicago reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit or 43 degrees Celsius.
The electric fan was invented in 1882 by Dr Schuyler Wheeler.
On 2 January 1906, Willis Carrier patented air conditioning.
Central heating has been around since Ancient Times. In 1919, a woman named Alice Parker patented a central heating system fueled by gas rather than coal. However, her design was never built because it was unsafe. The first practical gas central heating system was invented by the Chaffoteaux brothers in France in 1925.
Benjamin Waddy Maughan invented the gas water heater in 1868. The electric water heater was invented in 1889 by Edwin Ruud.
In 1903, Eduard Penkala, a Croatian, patented the rubber hot water bottle.
Some hot weather-related trivia: Ice cream was invented in China. It was first recorded in England in 1671. Ice cream was first recorded in America in 1744. At first, ice cream was a luxury only the rich could afford. In 1843, Nancy Johnson invented an ice cream-making device that made it easier to make ice cream, and the ice cream cone was patented in 1903.
Why do we eat hot cross buns? It used to be the custom to put crosses on all buns and loaves of bread, but the custom died out except for spiced buns eaten on Good Friday. HOT cross buns were first recorded in the 18th century when they were sold in the streets.
21 July is National Hot Dog Day.
For hundreds of years, people heated waffles over a fire. The first modern waffle iron was invented by Cornelius Swartwout in 1869. An electric waffle iron went on sale in 1918.
The first electric cooker went on sale in 1891, but it was decades before they became common. At first, some people refused to eat food cooked in an electric cooker. They claimed it had an ‘electric’ flavour.
On 6 June 1882, Henry Seeley patented the electric iron.
The first practical electric blanket was invented in 1912 by Sidney I. Russell.
The first practical electric fire was made in 1912.
