Ok, no one actually invented ice as it occurs naturally, but there was a visionary man who lead to the reason why we don't drink room-temperature beverages in our homes and on today, in 1850, he did his first public demonstration of his "machine that makes ice."
His name was John Gorrie and he is a not-so-well-known American inventor. His first devotion in life was a medical doctor and practiced said art in Apalachicola, Florida, where there is not a museum dedicated to his life.
As you might imagine, the original ice machine was massive but there is also some controversy surrounding it as there were a number of other people that were working on (and granted patents for) the machines that function in the same capacity. Jacob Perkins (American living in England) is credited with being the actual "father of refrigeration" but John Gorrie is the first person to ever publicly demonstrate its functionality.
This is kind of a Edison / Tesla type situation although in this case, both of the guys involved lived lives of financiall difficulty despite their genius. This was especially true with John Gorrie, who died 5 years after this famous demonstration and was broke and professionally ostracized. He wouldn't be recognized for his achievements until many years later.
