In 400 BCE, the ancient Persians created the world’s first-ever refrigerator.
The Persian word for the fridge – Yakhchal – translates as ice pit, which is very much how the modern-day fridge started.
The Persians settled primarily across the Iranian plateau and were established by the 1st millennium BCE.
First developed by the Persians around 400 BC, the Yakhchāl is an ancient type of ice house that functions as an evaporative cooler, used to store ice for use in the summer, as well as for food storage. The one in the picture is the oldest one still standing in Iran and is 400 years old.