Multimedia Gallery

Fred Jones

February 4, 2012

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format or as a .wav file.

Profile America for the fourth day of Black History Month. One of the people responsible for the way Americans eat today is Frederick Jones. From his army duties in World War I, he became a self-taught master of everything electrical. The inspiration for his most notable invention was a conversation with a truck driver who had lost a shipment of chickens on a hot day. As a result, Jones developed the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks in 1935. The device is also used in ships and trains. Jones ultimately was awarded more than 60 patents. Most recent statistics show the U.S. granted 244,000 patents annually. Of these, 220,000 were for inventions. Almost 17,000 were awarded to individuals. This special edition of Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. I'm Andrea Roane.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 778
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012edition.html