'' thumb|A side-by side refrigerator

A refrigerator (commonly referred to as a fridge) is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic, or chemical) which transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room. Cooling is a popular food storage technique in developed countries and works by decreasing the reproduction rate of bacteria. The device is thus used to reduce the rate of spoilage of foodstuffs.

A refrigerator maintains a temperature a few degrees above the freezing point of water. Optimum temperature range for perishable food storage is . A similar device which maintains a temperature below the freezing point of water is called a freezer.

The refrigerator is a relatively modern invention among kitchen appliances. It replaced the icebox, which had been a common household appliance for almost a century and a half prior. For this reason, a refrigerator is sometimes referred to as an icebox.

Freezer

Freezer units are used in households and in industry and commerce. Most freezers operate around . Domestic freezers can be included as a separate compartment in a refrigerator, or can be a separate appliance. Domestic freezers are generally upright units resembling refrigerators, or chests (resembling upright units laid on their backs). Many upright modern freezers come with an ice dispenser built into their door.

Commercial and domestic refrigerators

Commercial fridge and freezer units, which go by many other names, were in use for almost 40 years prior to the common home models. They used gas systems, which occasionally leaked, making them unsafe for home use. Practical household refrigerators were introduced in 1915 and gained wider acceptance in the United States in the 1930s as prices fell and non-toxic, non-flammable synthetic refrigerants such as Freon or R-12 were introduced. It is notable that while 60% of households in the US owned a refrigerator by the 1930s, it was not until 40 years later, in the 1970s, that the refrigerator achieved a similar level of penetration in the United Kingdom.

Styles of refrigerators

Most households use the freezer on top and refrigerator on bottom style, which has been the basic style since the 1940s.

Traditional style 1940s-present freezer top/refrigerator bottom (although most of the earlier models, some of the cheaper later models, and still some mini-fridges use the 'freezer chest,' or what is known as the 'freezer in the fridge'). A separate freezer compartment (e.g. ''not'' located within the larger refrigerator compartment) became the industry standard during the early- to mid-1960s.

Side by side style – introduced by Amana in 1949 but not popular until 1965–present; left side is freezer and the right is refrigerator.

Top refrigerator/bottom freezer style – mid-1950s – present.

French door style – late 1990s-present. Two French doors for refrigerator and bottom freezer.

In the early-1950s, most refrigerators were white, but from the mid-1950s through present day, designers and manufacturers put color into refrigerators. In the late-1950s/early-1960s, colors like turquoise and pink were popular, brushed chrome plating (similar to stainless finish) was available on some models from different brands. In the 1970s, common colors were Harvest Gold, Avocado Green and almond. In the 1980s, black colors were viewed as luxurious. In the late 1990s, stainless steel became stylish, and in 2009, one manufacturer introduced multi-color designs.

Many refrigerators can be blended into the cabinetry of the kitchen with panels that can slide over the doors for a built-in look.

Most home refrigerators weigh between and , with some models weighing up to .

History

Before the invention of the refrigerator, icehouses were used to provide cool storage for most of the year. Placed near freshwater lakes or packed with snow and ice during the winter, they were once very common. Natural means are still used to cool foods today. On mountainsides, runoff from melting snow is a convenient way to cool drinks, and during the winter one can keep milk fresh much longer just by keeping it outdoors.

In the 11th century, the Muslim physicist and chemist Ibn Sina (latinized name: Avicenna) invented the refrigerated coil, which condenses aromatic vapours. This was a breakthrough in distillation technology and he made use of it in his steam distillation process, which requires refrigerated tubing, to produce essential oils.

The first known artificial refrigeration was demonstrated by William Cullen at the University of Glasgow in 1748. The American inventor Oliver Evans, acclaimed as the "father of refrigeration," invented the vapor-compression refrigeration machine in 1805. Heat would be removed from the environment by recycling vaporized refrigerant, where it would move through a compressor and condenser, where it would eventually revert back to a liquid form in order to repeat the refrigeration process over again. However, no such refrigeration unit was built by Evans. In 1834, Jacob Perkins modified Evans' original design, building the world's first refrigerator and filing the first legal patent for refrigeration using vapor-compression. John Gorrie, an American doctor from Florida, invented the first mechanical refrigeration unit in 1841, based on Evans' original invention to make ice in order to cool the air for yellow fever patients. Gorrie's mechanical refrigeration unit was issued a patent in 1851. American professor Alexander C. Twining of Cleveland, Ohio patented an early vapor-compression refrigerator in 1853 that was fully capable of producing a ton of ice per day.

In 1857, Australian James Harrison developed a practical ice making machine and refrigeration system, and it was used in the brewing and meat packing industries of Geelong, Victoria. Ferdinand Carré of France developed a somewhat more complex system in 1859. Unlike earlier compression-compression machines, which used air as a coolant, Carré's equipment contained rapidly expanding ammonia. In 1913, refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented by Fred W. Wolf of Fort Wayne, Indiana with models consisting of a unit that was mounted on top of an ice box. A self-contained refrigerator, with a compressor on the bottom of the cabinet was invented by Alfred Mellowes in 1916. Mellowes produced this refrigerator commercially but was bought out by William C. Durant in 1918, who started the Frigidaire Company in order to begin the first mass-production of refrigerators. The absorption refrigerator was invented by Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters from Sweden in 1922, while they were still students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. It became a worldwide success and was commercialized by Electrolux. Other pioneers included Charles Tellier, David Boyle, and Raoul Pictet. Carl von Linde was the first to patent and make a practical and compact refrigerator.

These home units usually required the installation of the mechanical parts, motor and compressor, in the basement or an adjacent room while the cold box was located in the kitchen. There was a 1922 model that consisted of a wooden cold box, water-cooled compressor, an ice cube tray and a compartment, and cost $714. (A 1922 Model-T Ford cost about $450.) In 1923 Frigidaire introduced the first self-contained unit. About this same time porcelain-covered metal cabinets began to appear. Ice cube trays were introduced more and more during the 1920s; up to this time freezing was not an auxiliary function of the modern refrigerator.

The first refrigerator to see widespread use was the General Electric "Monitor-Top" refrigerator introduced in 1927, so-called because of its resemblance to the gun turret on the ironclad warship USS ''Monitor'' of the 1860s. The compressor assembly, which emitted a great deal of heat, was placed above the cabinet, and surrounded with a decorative ring. Over a million units were produced. As the refrigerating medium, these refrigerators used either sulfur dioxide, which is corrosive to the eyes and may cause loss of vision, painful skin burns and lesions, or methyl formate, which is highly flammable, harmful to the eyes, and toxic if inhaled or ingested. Many of these units are still functional today. These cooling systems cannot legally be recharged with the hazardous original refrigerants if they leak or break down.

The introduction of Freon in the 1920s expanded the refrigerator market during the 1930s and provided a safer, low-toxicity alternative to previously used refrigerants. Separate freezers became common during the 1940s, the popular term at the time for the unit was a "deep freeze". These devices, or "appliances", did not go into mass production for use in the home until after World War II. The 1950s and 1960s saw technical advances like automatic defrosting and automatic ice making. More efficient refrigerators were developed in the 1970s and 1980s, even though environmental issues led to the banning of very effective (Freon) refrigerants. Early refrigerator models (from 1916) had a cold compartment for ice cube trays. From the late 1920s fresh vegetables were successfully processed through freezing by the Postum Company (the forerunner of General Foods), which had acquired the technology when it bought the rights to Clarence Birdseye's successful fresh freezing methods.

The first successful application of frozen foods occurred when General Foods heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post (then wife of Joseph E. Davies, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union) deployed commercial-grade freezers in Spaso House, the US Embassy in Moscow, in advance of the Davies’ arrival. Post, fearful of the USSR's food processing safety standards, fully stocked the freezers with products from General Foods' Birdseye unit. The frozen food stores allowed the Davies to entertain lavishly and serve fresh frozen foods that would otherwise be out of season. Upon returning from Moscow, Post (who resumed her maiden name after divorcing Davies) directed General Foods to market frozen product to upscale restaurants.

Home freezers as separate compartments (larger than necessary just for ice cubes), or as separate units, were introduced in the United States in 1940. Frozen foods, previously a luxury item, began to be commonplace.

General technical explanation

thumb|An Embraco compressor and fan-assisted condenser coilA vapor compression cycle is used in most household refrigerators, refrigerator–freezers and freezers. In this cycle, a circulating refrigerant such as R134a enters a compressor as low-pressure vapor at or slightly above the temperature of the refrigerator interior. The vapor is compressed and exits the compressor as high-pressure superheated vapor. The superheated vapor travels under pressure through coils or tubes comprising "the condenser", which are passively cooled by exposure to air in the room. The condenser cools the vapor, which liquefies. As the refrigerant leaves the condenser, it is still under pressure but is now only slightly above room temperature. This liquid refrigerant is forced through a metering or throttling device, also known as an expansion valve (essentially a pin-hole sized constriction in the tubing) to an area of much lower pressure. The sudden decrease in pressure results in explosive-like flash evaporation of a portion (typically about half) of the liquid. The latent heat absorbed by this flash evaporation is drawn mostly from adjacent still-liquid refrigerant, a phenomenon known as "auto-refrigeration". This cold and partially vaporized refrigerant continues through the coils or tubes of the evaporator unit. A fan blows air from the refrigerator or freezer compartment ("box air") across these coils or tubes and the refrigerant completely vaporizes, drawing further latent heat from the box air. This cooled air is returned to the refrigerator or freezer compartment, and so keeps the box air cold. Note that the cool air in the refrigerator or freezer is still warmer than the refrigerant in the evaporator. Refrigerant leaves the evaporator, now fully vaporized and slightly heated, and returns to the compressor inlet to continue the cycle.

An absorption refrigerator works differently from a compressor refrigerator, using a source of heat, such as combustion of liquefied petroleum gas, solar thermal energy or an electric heating element. These heat sources are much quieter than the compressor motor in a typical refrigerator. A fan or pump might be the only mechanical moving parts; reliance on convection is considered impractical.

The Peltier effect uses electricity to pump heat directly; this type of refrigerator is sometimes used for camping, or where noise is not acceptable. They can be totally silent (if they don't include a fan for air circulation) but are less energy-efficient than other methods.

Other uses of an absorption refrigerator (or "chiller") include large systems used in office buildings or complexes such as hospitals and universities. These large systems are used to chill a brine solution that is circulated through the building.

Many modern refrigerator/freezers have the freezer on top and the fridge on the bottom. Many ask the question "How does the fridge stay cold if the motor doesn't start when I turn the fridge knob?" This question is answered easily. Most fridge/freezers, with the exception of manual defrost models and/or cheaper models utilize what appears to be two thermostats. Only the freezer compartment is properly temperature controlled. When the freezer gets too warm, the thermostat starts the refrigeration process and a fan also starts. The air is circulated around the freezer. During this time, the fridge is also getting colder. The fridge temperature control knob is doing nothing to 'control' the temperature. This knob is only controlling the amount of air that actually flows into the fridge via a damper system. This means that the fridge may become too warm. However, because only enough air is partitioned off to the fridge compartment, the freezer usually re-acquires the set temperature quickly, unless the door is opened. When a door is opened, either in the fridge or the freezer, the fan stops straight away to prevent excessive frost build up on the freezer's evaporator coil (because this coil is technically cooling two areas). When the freezer reaches temperature, the unit cycles off, no matter what temperature the fridge is at. Some people recommend setting the fridge to max and the freezer to a point where your fridge food won't freeze.

There are also many complaints about fridge/freezers being kept in garages. One very common complaint is that the freezer is defrosted, but the fridge is not. This occurs when the temperature becomes cool enough to cool the inside of the fridge. Because the fridge thinks the temperature is ok, it won't start unless warm beverages etc. are added. When this happens, the freezer thaws. It is therefore recommended to keep this type of fridge/freezer in a place where it won't get this cold. If the fridge compartment is the sole temperature controller, then, due to the design, the unit is likely to run for a longer amount of time, which will in turn keep the freezer very cold.

Modern, computerized refrigerators do not use the damper system. The computers manage fan speed for both compartments (although air is still pumped from the freezer).

Other alternatives to the vapor-compression cycle but not in current use include thermionic, vortex tube, air cycle, magnetic cooling, Stirling cycle, Malone refrigeration, acoustic cooling, pulse tube and water cycle systems.

Features

Newer refrigerators may include:

Automatic defrosting;

A power failure warning, alerting the user by flashing a temperature display. The maximum temperature reached during the power failure may be displayed, along with information on whether the frozen food has defrosted or may contain harmful bacteria;

Chilled water and ice available from an in-door station, so that the door need not be opened;

Water and Ice Dispensing became available in the 1970s. Also some refrigerators have icemakers built-in so the user doesn't have to use ice trays. Some refrigerators have water chillers and water filtration systems.

Cabinet rollers that allow the refrigerator to be easily rolled around for easier cleaning;

Adjustable shelves and trays which can be repositioned to suit the user;

A Status Indicator to notify the user when it is time to change the water filter;

An in-door ice caddy, which relocates the ice-maker storage to the freezer door and saves approximately 60 litres (2 cu ft) of usable freezer space. It is also removable, and helps to prevent ice-maker clogging;

A cooling zone in the refrigerator door shelves. Air from the freezer section is diverted to the refrigerator door, to cool milk or juice stored in the door shelf.

Early freezer units accumulated ice crystals around the freezing units. This was a result of humidity introduced into the units when the doors to the freezer were opened condensing on the cold parts, then freezing. This frost buildup required periodic thawing ("defrosting") of the units to maintain their efficiency. Manual Defrost (referred to as Cyclic) units are still available. Advances in automatic defrosting eliminating the thawing task were introduced in the 1950s, but are not universal, due to energy performance and cost. These units utilized a counter, that only defrosted the freezer compartment (Freezer Chest) when a specific number of door openings had been made. The units were just a small timer combined with an electrical heater wire which heated the freezer's walls for a short amount of time to remove all traces of frost/frosting. Also, early units featured freezer compartments located within the larger refrigerator, and accessed by opening the refrigerator door, and then the smaller internal freezer door; units featuring an entirely separate freezer compartment were introduced in the early 1960s, becoming the industry standard by the middle of that decade. These older freezer compartments were the main cooling body of the refrigerator, and only maintained a temperature of around -6°C, which is suitable for keeping food for a week.

Later advances included automatic ice units and self compartmentalized freezing units.

An increasingly important environmental concern is the disposal of old refrigerators – initially because of the freon coolant damaging the ozone layer, but as the older generation of refrigerators disappears it is the destruction of CFC-bearing insulation which causes concern. Modern refrigerators usually use a refrigerant called HFC-134a (1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane), which does not deplete the ozone layer, instead of freon. A R-134a is now becoming very uncommon in Europe. Instead, newer refrigerants are being used instead. The main refrigerant now used is R-600a, or Isobutane. This refrigerant is naturally occurring and therefore has a smaller effect on the atmosphere, if released. There have been some reports of refrigerators exploding, if the refrigerant leaks and comes into contact with a spark.

Disposal of discarded refrigerators is regulated, often mandating the removal of doors; children playing hide-and-seek have been asphyxiated while hiding inside discarded refrigerators, particularly older models with latching doors. Since August 2, 1956, under U.S. federal law, refrigerator doors are no longer permitted to lock from the inside. More modern units use a magnetic door gasket which holds the door sealed but can be pushed open from the inside. This gasket was invented by Herman C. Ells Sr.

Types of domestic refrigerators

Domestic refrigerators and freezers for food storage are made in a range of sizes. Among the smallest is a 4 L Peltier fridge advertised as being able to hold 6 cans of beer. A large domestic fridge stands as tall as a person and may be about 1 m wide with a capacity of 600 L. Some models for small households fit under kitchen work surfaces, usually about 86 cm high. Fridges may be combined with freezers, either stacked with fridge or freezer above, below, or side by side. A fridge without a frozen food storage compartment may have a small section just to make ice cubes. Freezers may have drawers to store food in, or they may have no divisions (chest freezers).

Fridges and freezers may be free-standing, or built into a kitchen.

Compressor refrigerators are by far the most common type; they make a noticeable noise.

Absorption refrigerators or thermo-electric Peltier units are used where quiet running is required; Peltier coolers are used in the smallest refrigerators as they have no bulky mechanism.

Compressor and Peltier refrigerators are powered by electricity; absorption units can be designed to be powered by any heat source. A noticeable difference between the two types is the absence of refrigerant with the Peltier coolers (these use a different method of cooling). But Peltier coolers use more electricity because they are thermodynamically inefficient.

Oil, gas (natural gas or propane) and dual power gas/electricity units are also available (typically found in RV's).

Solar refrigerators and Thermal mass refrigerators are designed to reduce electrical consumption. Solar refrigerators have the added advantage that they do not use refrigerants that are harmful to the environment or flammable. Typical solar designs are absorption refrigerators that use ammonia as the working gas, and employ large mirrors to concentrate sufficient sunlight to reach the temperature required to free gaseous ammonia from the solvent. Most thermal mass refrigerators are designed to use electricity intermittently. As these units are heavily insulated, cooling load is limited primarily to heat introduced by new items to be refrigerated, and ambient air transfer when the unit is open. Very little power is therefore required if opened infrequently. Refrigeration units for commercial and industrial applications can be made in various size, shape or style to fit customer needs.

Other specialised cooling mechanisms may be used for cooling, but have not been applied to domestic refrigerators. Magnetic refrigerators are refrigerators that work on the magnetocaloric effect. The cooling effect is triggered by placing a metal alloy in a magnetic field. Acoustic refrigerators are refrigerators that use resonant linear reciprocating motors/alternators to generate a sound which is then converted to heat and cold using compressed helium gas. The heat is descarded and the cold is routed to the refrigerator.

Energy efficiency

In the past, refrigerators consumed more energy than any other home appliance, but in the last twenty years progress has been made to design, manufacture, and encourage the sale of refrigerators with improved energy efficiency. In the early 1990s a competition was held among the major manufacturers to encourage energy efficiency. Current models that are Energy Star qualified use 50 percent less energy than the average models made in 1974. The most energy-efficient unit made in the US consumes about half a kilowatt-hour per day. But even ordinary units are quite efficient; some smaller units use less than 0.5 kilowatt-hour. Larger units, especially those with large freezers and icemakers, may use as much as 4 kW·h per day. The small, mini-fridge (or bar fridge), is an example of bad design. Because these fridges are so small and lacking in large amounts of capacity, when the door is opened a large amount of the cool air escapes, leaving a large amount of warm, moist air for the unit to cool down. This means, if the unit is cycled off when the door is opened, it is likely the unit will start almost as soon as the door is shut.

Among the different styles of refrigerators, top-freezer models are more efficient than bottom-freezer models of the same capacity, which are in turn more efficient than side-freezer models. Models with through-the-door ice units are less efficient than those without. Dr. Tom Chalko in Australia has developed an external thermostat to convert any chest freezer into a chest fridge using only about 0.1kWh per day—the amount of energy used by a 100 watt light bulb in one hour. A similar device is manufactured by Johnson Controls. Scientists at Oxford University have reconstructed a refrigerator invented in 1930 by Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein in their efforts to replace current technologies with energy efficient green technology. The Einstein refrigerator operates without electricity and uses no moving parts or greenhouse gases.

Many refrigerators made in the 1930s and 1940s were far more efficient than most that were made later. This is partly attributable to the addition of new features, such as auto-defrost, that reduced efficiency. Additionally, post World War 2, refrigerator style became more important than efficiency. This was especially true in the 1970s, when side by side models with ice dispensers and water chillers became popular. However, the reduction in efficiency also comes partly from cost cutting (less insulation). Due to the introduction of new energy requirements, refrigerators made today are much more efficient than those made in the 1930s; they consume the same amount of energy while being three times as large.

The efficiency of older refrigerators can be improved by defrosting (if the unit is manual defrost) and cleaning them regularly, replacing old and worn door seals with new ones, adjusting the thermostat to be appropriate to the actual contents (a fridge doesn't need to be colder than 4°C if it is storing drinks and non-perishable items only) and also replacing insulation, where applicable. Some sites recommend that you clean the condenser coils every month or so on units that have coils on the rear. It has been proved that this does very little for improving efficiency, however, the unit should be able to 'breathe' with adequate spaces around the front, back, sides and above the unit. If the refrigerator uses a fan to keep the condenser cool, then this must be cleaned, at the very least, yearly.

Frost Free refrigerators and/or freezers utilize electric fans to cool the appropriate compartment. This could be referred to as a 'Fan Forced' refrigerator, whereas manual defrost units rely on colder air lying at the bottom, versus the warm air at the top to achieve adequate cooling. The air is drawn in through an inlet duct and passed through the evaporator where it is cooled, the air is then circulated through-out the cabinet via a series of ducts and vents. Because the air passing the evaporator is supposedly warm and moist, frost begins to form on the evaporator (especially on a freezer's evaporator). In cheaper and/or older models, a defrost cycle was controlled via a mechanical timer. This timer was set to shut off the compressor and fan and energize a heating element located at the base of the evaporate for up to 30 minutes. This melted any frost or ice build up and allowed the refrigerator to work normally once more. It is believed that frost free units have a lower tolerance for frost, due to their air-conditioner like evaporator coils. Therefore, if a door is left open accidentally (especially the freezer), the defrost system may not remove all frost, in this case, the freezer (or fridge) must be defrosted.

If the defrosting system melts all the ice before the timed defrosting period ends, then a small device (called a Defrost Terminator) acts like a thermostat and shuts off the heating element to prevent too large a temperature fluctuation, it also prevents hot blasts of air when the system starts again, should it finish defrosting early. When the 30 minutes or so defrost is completed, the compressor and fan are allowed to cycle back on if necessary.

Single frost free fridge units that are frost free generally don't shut off their fans whilst defrosting. This allows consumers to leave food in the main fridge compartment uncovered, and also helps keep any vegetables some-what moist. This method also helps reduce energy consumption, because a fridge is above freeze point, the warmer than freezing air can be passed through the evaporator to aid the defrosting cycle. The less time the electric heater element is left on, the lower the energy consumption.

Regarding total life-cycle costs, many governments offer incentives to encourage recycling of old refrigerators. One example is the Phoenix fridge program launched in Australia. This government incentive picked up old refrigerators, paying their owners for 'donating' the fridge. The fridge was then refurbished, with new door seals, a thorough cleaning and the removal of items, such as the cover that is strapped to the back of many older units. The resulting fridges, now over 10% more efficient, were then distributed to low income families.

Effect on lifestyle

The refrigerator allows the modern family to keep food fresh for much longer than before. This, along with the modern supermarket, allows most families, without a sizable garden in which to grow vegetables and raise animals, a vastly more varied diet and improved health resulting from improved nutrition. Dairy products, meats, fish, poultry and vegetables can be kept refrigerated in the same space within the kitchen (although raw meat should be kept separate from other foodstuffs for reasons of hygiene).

The refrigerator lets people eat more salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, without having to own a garden or an orchard. Exotic foodstuffs from far-off countries that have been imported by means of refrigeration can be enjoyed in the home because of domestic refrigeration.

While allowing more healthy foods to be stored for longer times, more refrigerators and freezers are stocked with processed, quick-cook foods that are less healthy. Studies connecting the correlation between frozen (microwaved) foods and obesity have proven that access to easy meals has led to a general decline in overall health.

Freezers allow households to buy food in bulk: it can be eaten at leisure, and bulk purchase saves money. Ice cream, a popular commodity of the 20th century, could previously only be obtained by traveling long distances to where the product was made fresh, and had to be eaten on the spot. Now it is a common food item. Ice on demand not only adds to the enjoyment of cold drinks, but is useful for first-aid, and for cold packs that can be kept frozen for picnics or in case of emergency.

Temperature zones and ratings

Some refrigerators are now divided into four zones to store different types of food:

(freezer) (meats) (refrigerator) (vegetables)

The capacity of a refrigerator is measured in either litres or cubic feet. Typically the volume of a combined fridge-freezer is split to 100 litres (3.53 cubic feet) for the freezer and 140 litres (4.94 cubic feet) for the refrigerator, although these values are highly variable.

Temperature settings for refrigerator and freezer compartments are often given arbitrary numbers by manufacturers (for example, 1 through 9, warmest to coldest), but generally is ideal for the refrigerator compartment and for the freezer. Some refrigerators are required to be within certain external temperature parameters to run properly. This can be an issue when placing units in an unfinished area such as a garage.

European freezers, and refrigerators with a freezer compartment, have a four star rating system to grade freezers.

[∗] : min temperature = . Maximum storage time for (pre-frozen) food is 1 week [∗∗] : min temperature = . Maximum storage time for (pre-frozen) food is 1 month [∗∗∗] : min temperature = . Maximum storage time for (pre-frozen) food is between 3 and 12 months depending on type (meat, vegetables, fish, etc) [∗[∗∗∗] : min temperature = . Maximum storage time for pre-frozen or frozen-from-fresh food is between 3 and 12 months

Although both the three and four star ratings specify the same storage times and same minimum temperature of -18°C, only a four star freezer is intended to be used for freezing fresh food, and may include a "fast freeze" function (runs the compressor continually, down to as low as -26'C) to facilitate this. Three (or fewer) stars are used for frozen food compartments which are only suitable for storing frozen food; introducing fresh food into such a compartment is likely to result in unacceptable temperature rises. This difference in categorisation is shown in the design of the 4-star logo, where the "standard" three stars are displayed in a box using "positive" colours, denoting the same normal operation as a 3-star freezer, and the fourth star showing the additional fresh food/fast freeze function is prefixed to the box in "negative" colours or with other distinct formatting.

Most European refrigerators include a moist cold fridge section (which does require (automatic) defrosting at irregular intervals) and a (rarely frost free) freezer section.

Recycling

Old refrigerators have been adapted to create low cost passive solar water heating systems. Also, many refrigerators have been refurbished for low-income families in eastern Australia via the Phoenix fridge program (see energy efficiency)

In Mexico the Federal Government has created the program CAMBIA TU VIEJO POR UNO NUEVO (change your old fridge by a new one). This program consists on changing an old fridge for a new one. The old fridges are recycled to recover its components: refrigerant gas, copper, glass, iron, etc.

See also

Absorption refrigerator

Energy Star

Ice cream maker

Magnetic refrigeration

Pot-in-pot refrigerator

Refrigerator magnet

Star rating

Thermoacoustics

Thermoelectric cooling

Notes and references

External links

Refrigeration History

The History of the Refrigerator and Freezers

How does a gas-powered fridge actually work (without compressor – using heater to power the heat transfer cycle) Archived Page

How Refrigerators Work Article by HowStuffWorks

Refrigerators, Canada Science and Technology Museum

How Refrigerators Work and What goes wrong with them Article by Apwagner.com

Category:Home appliances Category:Heat pumps Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Food storage Category:Cooling technology Category:Food preservation Category:English inventions Category:1915 introductions

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	William James Perry
order	19th
title	United States Secretary of Defense
term start	February 3, 1994
term end	January 23, 1997
president	Bill Clinton
deputy	John M. DeutchJohn P. White
predecessor	Les Aspin
successor	William Cohen
order2	19th
title2	United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
term start2	January 21, 1993
term end2	February 3, 1994
president2	Bill Clinton
predecessor2	Donald J. Atwood Jr.
successor2	John M. Deutch
birth date	October 11, 1927
birth place	Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
party	Democrat
alma mater	Stanford UniversityPennsylvania State University }}

William James Perry (born October 11, 1927) is an American businessman and engineer who was the United States Secretary of Defense from February 3, 1994, to January 23, 1997, under President Bill Clinton. He also served as Deputy Secretary of Defense (1993–1994) and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (1977-1981).

Perry is currently the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor at Stanford University, with a joint appointment in the School of Engineering. He is also a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. He is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and serves as co-director of the Nuclear Risk Reduction initiative and the Preventive Defense Project. He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control.

Former Secretary Perry also has extensive business experience and currently serves on the boards of several high-tech companies and is Chairman of Global Technology Partners. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among Perry's numerous awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1997), Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1998) and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2002), awarded by the Emperor of Japan.

Early life and career

Born in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Butler Senior High School in 1945 and served in the United States Army as an enlisted man from 1946 to 1947, including service in the Occupation of Japan. Perry later received a commission in the United States Army Reserve through ROTC, serving from 1950 to 1955.

Perry received his B.S. (1949) and M.A. (1950) degrees from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Pennsylvania State University in 1957. He was director of the Electronic Defense Laboratories of Sylvania/GTE in California from 1954 to 1964, and from 1964 to 1977 president of ESL, Incorporated, an electronics firm that he helped found. From 1977 to 1981, during the Jimmy Carter administration, Perry served as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, where he had responsibility for weapon systems procurement and research and development. Among other achievements, he was instrumental in the development of stealth aircraft technology. Not all of the programs he developed were as well-received, however. As journalist Paul Glastris wrote in the ''Washington Monthly'':

As under secretary, Perry effectively controlled which emerging technologies and weapons systems would receive R&D; funds and which systems the Pentagon would procure. Among the regrettable high-tech weapons systems he gave the green light to: the MX missile (still no basing system), the TV-guided Maverick missile (fighter pilots become sitting ducks when they launch them), the F-18 fighter (costs more, performs worse than the planes it replaced), the Aquila Remotely Piloted Vehicle drone (worse than the Israeli version, 16 times as expensive), the DIVAD gun (no amount of money could make it work), and the Apache helicopter (the Pentagon recently grounded the entire fleet).

On leaving The Pentagon in 1981 Perry became managing director until 1985 of Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco investment banking firm "specializing in high-tech and defense companies." Later in the 1980s and up to 1993, before returning to the Pentagon as deputy secretary of defense, he held positions as chairman of Technology Strategies Alliances, professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, and a co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation. He was also a member of the Packard Commission.

Secretary of Defense

Perry entered office with broad national security experience, both in industry and government, and with an understanding of the challenges that he faced. A hands-on manager, he paid attention both to internal operations in the Pentagon and to international security issues. He worked closely with his deputy secretaries (John M. Deutch, 1994–95, and John P. White, 1995–97), and he met regularly with the service secretaries, keeping them informed and seeking their advice on issues. He described his style as "management by walking around."

Perry adopted "preventive defense" as his guide to national security policy in the post-Cold War world. During the Cold War the United States had relied on deterrence rather than prevention as the central principle of its security strategy. Perry outlined three basic tenets of a preventive strategy: keep threats from emerging; deter those that actually emerged; and if prevention and deterrence failed, defeat the threat with military force. In practical terms this strategy relied on threat reduction programs (reducing the nuclear complex of the former Soviet Union), counter-proliferation efforts, the NATO Partnership for Peace and expansion of the alliance, and the maintenance of military forces and weapon systems ready to fight if necessary. To carry out this strategy, Perry thought it necessary to maintain a modern, ready military force, capable of fighting two major regional wars at the same time.

Defense budget

As always with Secretaries of Defense, the formulation of the Defense budget and shepherding it through Congress was one of Perry's most important duties. The problem of how to deal with a large projected Defense budget shortfall for the period 1995–2000, an issue that weakened Perry's predecessor Les Aspin and contributed to his resignation, persisted when Perry took office. Immediately on presenting his 1995 budget request, which he termed "a post-Cold War budget," Perry stated that Defense required a few more years of downsizing and that its infrastructure needed streamlining as well. The proposal, he said, maintained a ready-to-fight force, redirected a modernization program (including a strong research and development program), initiated a program to do business differently (acquisition reform), and reinvested defense dollars in the economy.

Perry asked for $252.2 billion for FY 1995, including funds for numerous weapon systems, such as a new aircraft carrier, three Aegis cruisers, and six C-17 cargo aircraft. The budget projected a further cut of 85,500 in active duty military personnel, leaving a force of 1.52 million. Ultimately Congress provided $253.9 billion TOA, about $2 billion more than in FY 1994, but actually a 1.2% cut in real growth.

In February 1995 Perry asked for $246 billion for the Department of Defense for FY 1996. This proposal became entangled in the controversy during 1995 over the House Republicans' Contract with America, their efforts to spend more on defense than the administration wanted, and the continuing need for deficit reduction. Perry cautioned Congress in September of the possibility that President Clinton would veto the FY 1996 Defense budget bill because Congress had added $7 billion in overall spending, mainly for weapon systems that the Defense Department did not want, and because of restrictions on contingency operations Congress had put in the bill. Three months later he recommended that the president veto the bill. When Congress and the administration finally settled on a budget compromise midway through FY 1996, DoD received $254.4 billion TOA, slightly more than in FY 1995, but in terms of real growth a 2% cut.

The question of a national missile defense system figured prominently in the budget struggles Perry experienced. Aspin had declared an end to the Strategic Defense Initiative program, but long-standing supporters both inside and outside of Congress called for its resurrection, especially when the Defense budget came up. Perry rejected calls for revival of SDI, arguing that the money would be better spent on battlefield antimissile defenses and force modernization, that the United States at the moment did not face a real threat, and that if the system were built and deployed it would endanger the strategic arms limitation treaties with the Russians. The secretary was willing to continue funding development work on a national system, so that if a need emerged the United States could build and deploy it in three years. President Clinton signed the FY 1996 Defense bill early in 1996 only after Congress agreed to delete funding for a national missile defense system.

Shortly before he introduced his FY 1997 budget request in March 1996, Perry warned that the United States might have to give up the strategy of preparing for two major regional conflicts if the armed forces suffered further reductions. The Five-Year Modernization Plan Perry introduced in March 1996 reflected his basic assumptions that the Defense budget would not decline in FY 1997 and would grow thereafter; that DoD would realize significant savings from infrastructure cuts, most importantly base closings; and that other savings would come by contracting out many support activities and reforming the defense acquisition system.

For FY 1997 the Clinton administration requested a DoD appropriation of $242.6 billion, about 6% less in inflation-adjusted dollars than the FY 1996 budget. The budget proposal delayed modernization for another year, even though the administration earlier had said it would recommend increased funding for new weapons and equipment for FY 1997. The proposal included advance funding for contingency military operations, which had been financed in previous years through supplemental appropriations. Modest real growth in the Defense budget would not begin until FY 2000 under DoD's six-year projections. The procurement budget would increase during the period from $38.9 billion (FY 1997) to $60.1 billion (FY 2001). For FY 1997 Congress eventually provided $244 billion TOA, including funds for some weapon systems not wanted by the Clinton administration.

Although he had not thought so earlier, by the end of his tenure in early 1997 Perry believed it possible to modernize the U.S. armed forces within a balanced federal budget. Perry argued for the current force level of just under 1.5 million as the minimum needed by the United States to maintain its global role. Further reductions in the Defense budget after 1997 would require cuts in the force structure and make it impossible for the United States to remain a global power.

Streamlining the military infrastructure

Perry devoted much time to restructuring defense acquisition policy and procedure, pursuing measures on acquisition reform begun when he was deputy secretary. Six days after he became secretary Perry released a document that laid out a variety of proposed acquisition procedure changes, including simplification of purchases under $100,000; maximum reliance on existing commercial products; conforming military contracts, bidding, accounting, and other business procedures to commercial practices when possible; eliminating outdated regulations that delayed purchases; and announcing military purchase requirements on data interchanges normally used by private business to increase vendor competition. In June 1994 the secretary signed a directive ordering the armed forces to buy products and components to the extent possible from Commercial off-the-shelf sources rather than from defense contractors, signaling a major departure from the traditional "milspec" over 30,000 military specifications and standards that actually inflated the cost of military items.

In March 1996 Perry approved a new DoD comprehensive acquisition policy that emphasized commercial practices and products. Program managers and other acquisition officials would have the power to use their professional judgment in purchasing. The plan canceled more than 30 separate acquisition policy memoranda and report formats and replaced existing policy documents with new ones that were about 90% shorter. Perry considered these reforms one of his most important accomplishments, and saw savings generated by the new practices as part of the key to adequate funding of the military in an era of continuing tight budgets. In a further effort to save money Perry resorted to base closures and realignments. In May 1994 he and General John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that Defense would go forward, as required by law, with a 1995 round of base closings. In doing so Defense would consider the economic impact on the affected communities and the capacity to manage the reuse of closed facilities.

In March 1995 Perry released DoD's 1995 base realignment and closure (BRAC) plan, recommending 146 actions. He estimated that implementing BRAC 95 would bring one-time costs of $3.8 billion and net savings of $4 billion within a six-year period.

Foreign relations

At the time of his appointment it was not expected that Perry would involve himself aggressively in foreign policy. He quickly belied this impression. Within days of taking office he left Washington on his first trip abroad to confer with European defense ministers. In April 1994 the ''Economist'', in an article entitled "Perrypatetic," observed: "The man who has started to sound like a secretary of state is in fact the defense secretary, William Perry. . . . He is popping up in public all over the place and moving into the strategy business in a big way." In fact, Perry traveled abroad in his three-year tenure more than any previous secretary. Unlike most of his predecessors, Perry paid attention to the other nations in the Americas, hosting the first Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas at Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1995 and attending the second conference in 1996 in Argentina. His extensive travel matched his direct style. In his travels, he emphasized personal contact with rank and file members of the armed forces. His frequent trips also reflected the demands of the large number of foreign crises that occurred during his term, including several requiring the deployment of U.S. forces.

NATO

Perry strongly supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. He made major efforts to promote its Partnership for Peace Program, which the Clinton administration saw as a way to link NATO with the new Eastern European democracies, including Russia, and as a compromise between the wishes of many of the Eastern European countries to become full NATO members and Russia's determined opposition. Individual nations could join the Partnership for Peace under separate agreements with NATO, and many did so, enabling them to participate in NATO joint training and military exercises without becoming formal members of the alliance. Perry conferred several times with Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev in an effort to allay Russia's worries about and secure its membership in the Partnership for Peace. The issue remained outstanding when Perry left office in early 1997, by which time NATO had developed tentative plans to admit a few former Warsaw Pact members during the summer of 1997.

Russia

Although he recognized that the reform movement in Russia might not succeed, Perry did everything he could to improve relations with Moscow. He stressed the need for continuing military cooperation with and aid to the states of the former Soviet Union to facilitate destruction of their nuclear weapons. He used the Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1992 (the Nunn-Lugar program), which provided funds for the dismantling of nuclear weapons in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, to diminish the nuclear threat. He urged Congress to continue the threat reduction program, defending it against claims that in reality it provided foreign aid to Russia's military. By June 1996 when Perry traveled to Ukraine to observe the completion of that country's transfer of nuclear warheads to Russia, the only former Soviet missiles still outside of Russia were in Belarus. Perry testified in favor of U.S. ratification of the START II treaty, completed in 1996; in October 1996 he spoke to a session of the Russian Duma in Moscow, urging its members to ratify the treaty.

Asia

In Asia, like former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger a decade earlier, Perry endeavored to improve relations with both the People's Republic of China and Japan. He was the first secretary of defense to visit China after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, when PRC authorities forcibly crushed a dissident movement. While not ignoring long-standing problems such as the PRC's weapons sales abroad and its human rights abuses, he believed that the U.S. and the PRC should cooperate militarily. He made some progress, although when China threatened Taiwan just before the latter's presidential election in March 1996, the United States sent two aircraft carrier task forces to the area to counter the Chinese.

In 1995 a young girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen stationed in Okinawa, Japan. The crime led to demands that the United States diminish its military presence on the island. Late in 1996 the United States agreed to vacate 20% of the land it used on Okinawa and to close some military facilities, including Futenma Marine Corps Air Station. The Japanese agreed that the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed on Okinawa could remain.

Bosnian War

The most serious ongoing international crisis was in Bosnia. When Perry took over in 1994, the Bosnian Serbs were besieging Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, but the Serbs were forced to draw back in face of a UN ultimatum and warning of air strikes. Shortly thereafter the Serbs threatened to overrun the Muslim city of Goražde in eastern Bosnia. Perry at first ruled out U.S. military action, but in April 1994 U.S. fighter planes participated in UN air strikes at Goražde, causing the Bosnian Serbs to retreat.

In a major statement on Bosnia in June 1994 Perry attempted to clarify U.S. policy there, declaring that the conflict did involve U.S. national interests, humanitarian and otherwise, but not "supreme" interests. To limit the spread of violence in Bosnia, the United States had committed air power under NATO to stop bombardment of Bosnian cities, provide air support for UN troops, and carry out humanitarian missions. Perry and the White House resisted congressional pressures to lift an arms embargo imposed earlier by the United Nations on all sides in the Bosnian conflict. During 1994–95 some senators, including Republican leader Robert Dole, wanted the embargo against the Bosnian Muslims lifted to enable them to resist the Serbs more effectively. Perry thought this might provoke Serb attacks and perhaps force the commitment of U.S. ground troops. In August 1995 Clinton vetoed legislation to lift the arms embargo. (In fact, the Bosnian Muslims had been receiving arms from outside sources.) Meanwhile, although it had stated consistently that it would not send U.S. ground forces to Bosnia, in December 1994 the Clinton administration expressed willingness to commit troops to help rescue UN peacekeepers in Bosnia if they were withdrawn. In May 1995, after the Bosnian Serbs had taken about 3,000 peacekeepers hostage, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia resolved to provide a larger and better-equipped UN force.

Applying strong pressure, in November 1995 the United States persuaded the presidents of Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia to attend a conference in Dayton, Ohio, that after much contention produced a peace agreement, formally signed in Paris in mid-December. It provided for cessation of hostilities, withdrawal of the combatants to specified lines, creation of a separation zone, and the stationing in Bosnia of a Peace Implementation Force (IFOR). The North Atlantic Council, with Perry participating, had decided in September 1995 to develop a NATO-led force to implement any peace agreement for Bosnia, setting the force size at 60,000 troops, including 20,000 from the United States. In congressional testimony in November Perry explained why U.S. troops should go to Bosnia: The war threatened vital U.S. political, economic, and security interests in Europe; there was a real opportunity to stop the bloodshed; the United States was the only nation that could lead a NATO force to implement the peace; and the risks to the United States of allowing the war to continue were greater than the risks of the planned military operation.

The first U.S. troops moved into Bosnia in early December 1995, and by late January 1996 the full complement of 20,000 had been deployed. Although Perry had said earlier that they would leave Bosnia within a year, in June 1996 he hinted at a longer stay if NATO decided the peace in Bosnia would not hold without them. The secretary agreed to a study proposed in September 1996 by NATO defense ministers for a follow-on force to replace IFOR. Finally in November 1996, after the presidential election, Clinton announced, with Perry's support, that the United States would provide 8,500 troops to a NATO follow-on force. The U.S. force would be gradually reduced in 1997 and 1998 and completely withdrawn by June 1998.

Haïtian Crisis

Perry also inherited from Aspin the problem of what to do about Haïti, where a military junta continued to refuse to reinstate the deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In the spring of 1994, debate persisted in the United States Congress on whether to intervene militarily to oust Raoul Cédras, the military leader, and restore Aristide to power. President Clinton said that the United States would not rule out the use of military force and also suggested that military teams to train local security and police forces might be sent to Haïti. In the meantime, large numbers of refugees fled from Haïti in boats, hoping to gain admittance to the United States. U.S. vessels intercepted most of them at sea and took them to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

In spite of continuing pressure and obvious preparations in the United States for an invasion of Haïti, the junta refused to yield. On September 19, 1994, just after former President Jimmy Carter negotiated an agreement, the United States sent in military forces with UN approval. Haïti's ''de facto'' leaders, including Cédras, agreed to step down by October 15 so that Aristide could return to the presidency. By the end of September, 19,600 U.S. troops were in Haïti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy. At the end of March 1995, a UN commander took over, and the United States provided 2,400 of the 6,000-man UN force that would remain in Haïti until February, 1996. Given the opposition to the mission when it began, the primary U.S. concern was to do its limited job and avoid casualties among its forces. With the final withdrawal of U.S. troops, and Aristide's duly elected successor installed in office in February 1996, the Pentagon and the Clinton administration could label the Haïtian operation a success up to that point.

North Korea

North Korea posed another serious problem for Perry, who backed the administration's policy of pressuring its Communist regime to allow monitoring of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Between February and October 1994 the United States increased its pressures on North Korea. Perry warned in March that the United States would not permit the development of an arsenal of nuclear weapons. War was not imminent, he said, but he indicated that he had ordered military preparations for a possible conflict. Soon thereafter Perry stated that the United States would propose UN economic sanctions if North Korea did not allow international inspection of its planned withdrawal of spent fuel from a nuclear reactor fuel containing sufficient plutonium to produce four or five nuclear weapons. North Korea began removing the nuclear fuel in May 1994 without granting the IAEA inspection privileges, and later said it would leave the IAEA.

On October 21, 1994 the United States and North Korea signed an agreement after lengthy negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, assisted again by former President Carter. The United States, Japan, South Korea, and other regional allies promised to provide North Korea with two light water nuclear reactors, at an eventual cost of '$4 billion', to replace existing or partially constructed facilities that could produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. North Korea then agreed to open its nuclear facilities to international inspection, and the United States pledged to lift trade restrictions and provide fuel oil for electric power generation. Perry considered this agreement better than risking a war in Korea and a continuation of North Korea's nuclear program. He promised that he would ask Congress for money to build up U.S. forces in South Korea if the agreement broke down. Again a critical situation had moderated, but implementing the agreement proved difficult. By the end of Perry's term some issues remained outstanding, and tension between the two Koreas flared up from time to time.

The Middle East

In the Persian Gulf area Iraq continued to make trouble, with periodic provocative moves by Saddam Hussein triggering U.S. military action. After the 1991 Gulf War, acting in accord with a UN resolution, the United States organized a coalition to enforce no-fly zones in Iraq, north of 36° and south of 32°. In a tragic accident in April 1994 two U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft, operating in the no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel in Iraq, shot down two U.S. Army helicopters after misidentifying them as Iraqi. This incident, with its high death toll, highlighted dramatically the complexities in dealing with Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Further, in October 1994, when several elite Iraqi divisions began to move toward Kuwait's border, the United States mobilized ground, air, and naval forces in the area to counter the threat. Perry warned Iraq that the U.S. forces would take action if it did not move its Republican Guard units north of the 32nd parallel. Subsequently the UN Security Council passed a resolution requiring Iraq to pull its troops back at least 150 miles from the Kuwait border.

Iran, too, behaved aggressively, placing at least 6,000 troops in March 1995 on three islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Perry stated that the Iranian moves threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway on which moved a significant part of the world's oil production. The United States worked with its allies in the Persian Gulf area to bolster their capacity to defend themselves and to use their collective strength through the Gulf Cooperation Council. Most important, in Perry's judgment, was the determination of the United States to maintain a strong regional defense capability with aircraft and naval ships in the area, prepositioned equipment, standing operational plans, and access agreements with the Persian Gulf partners.

Provocative moves again by Iraq forced the United States to take strong action. When Saddam Hussein intervened in September 1996 by sending some 40,000 troops to assist one side in a dispute between two Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, he demonstrated that he was not deterred by a U.S. warning against using military force. Perry made clear that while no significant U.S. interests were involved in the factional conflict, maintaining stability in the region as a whole was vital to U.S. security and there would be a U.S. reaction. On both September 2 and 3, U.S. aircraft attacked Iraqi fixed surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites and air defense control facilities in the south, because, Perry explained, the United States saw the principal threat from Iraq to be against Kuwait.

Another tragic incident on June 25, 1996 revealed the continuing tension in the Middle East and the dangers involved in the U.S. military presence. Terrorists exploded a truck bomb at the Khobar Towers apartment complex housing U.S. military personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 and wounding 500. In September 1996 an investigative panel set up by Perry recommended vigorous measures to deter, prevent, or mitigate the effects of future terrorist acts against U.S. personnel overseas, and further, that a single DoD element have responsibility for force protection. The panel found that the unit attacked at Dhahran had not taken every precaution it might have to protect the forces at Khobar Towers. Eventually the Defense Department moved units from Dhahran to more remote areas in Saudi Arabia to provide better protection.

Somalian conflict

U.S. involvement in Somalia, a problem during Aspin's tenure, ended in 1994. Under the protection of U.S. Marines on ships offshore, the last U.S. forces left Somalia before the end of March, meeting a deadline set earlier by President Clinton. Later, in February 1995, more than 7,000 U.S. troops assisted in removing the remaining UN peacekeepers and weapons from Somalia in a markedly successful operation. In another mission in Africa in 1994, the United States became involved in humanitarian efforts in Rwanda. A civil war between two rival ethnic groups, the Hutu and Tutsi, resulted in widespread death and destruction and the flight of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Rwanda into neighboring countries, including Zaire. Although not part of the UN peacekeeping operation in Rwanda, the United States provided humanitarian aid in the form of purified water, medicine, site sanitation, and other means. In July the Pentagon sent in aircraft and about 3,000 troops, most of them to Zaire. The U.S. forces also took control of and rebuilt the airport at Kigali, Rwanda's capital, to aid in distribution of food, medicine, and other supplies.

Accomplishments and resignation

Clearly, Perry bore a heavy load during his term as Secretary of Defense between 1994 and 1997. Fine-tuning the budget, downsizing the military, and conducting humanitarian, peacekeeping, and military operations provided him with a full agenda. In January 1996 he talked about experiences over the past year in which he never thought a Secretary of Defense would be involved. At the top of the list was witnessing participation of a Russian brigade in a U.S. division in the Bosnian peacekeeping operation. The others—Dayton, Ohio, becoming synonymous with peace in the Balkans; helping the Russian defense minister blow up a Minuteman missile silo in Missouri; watching United States and Russian troops training together in Kansas; welcoming former Warsaw Pact troops in Louisiana; operating a school at Garmisch, Germany, to teach former Soviet and East European military officers about democracy, budgeting, and testifying to a parliament; dismantling the military specifications system for acquisition; cutting the ear off a pig in Kazakhstan; and eating rendered Manchurian toad fat in China. These things, Perry said, demonstrate "just how much the world has changed, just how much our security has changed, just how much the Department of Defense has changed, and just how much my job has changed."

Shortly after President Clinton's reelection in November 1996, Perry made known his decision to step down as secretary. He spoke of his growing frustration over working with a Congress so partisan that it was harming the military establishment, and said that he did not think the results of the 1996 congressional election would decrease the partisanship. He later explained that his decision to retire was "largely due to the constant strain of sending U.S. military personnel on life-threatening missions."

As he left the Pentagon Perry listed what he thought were his most important accomplishments: establishing effective working relationships with U.S. military leaders; improving the lot of the military, especially enlisted men and women; managing the military drawdown; instituting important acquisition reforms; developing close relationships with many foreign defense ministers; effectively employing military strength and resources in Bosnia, Haiti, Korea, and the Persian Gulf area; dramatically reducing the nuclear legacy of the Cold War; and promoting the Partnership for Peace within NATO. His disappointments included failure to obtain Russian ratification of the START II treaty; slowness in securing increases in the budget for weapon systems modernization; and the faulty perceptions of the Gulf War illness syndrome held by some of the media and much of the public. At a ceremony for Perry in January 1997 General Shalikashvili noted the departing secretary's relationship with the troops. "Surely," Shalikashvili said, "Bill Perry has been the GI's secretary of defense. When asked his greatest accomplishment as secretary, Bill Perry didn't name an operation or a weapons system. He said that his greatest accomplishment was his very strong bond with our men and women in uniform."

Perry's career in the Department of Defense actually spanned eight years of profound changes—four years as Undersecretary for Research and Engineering in 1977–1981, a year as Deputy Secretary from 1993 to 1994, and three years as Secretary.

Later career

After he left the Pentagon, Perry returned to San Francisco to join the board of Hambrecht and Quist as a senior adviser. He also rejoined the faculty at Stanford University, becoming a professor at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a member of the advisory board of the Roosevelt Institution.

Mr. Perry serves on the board of directors of Los Alamos National Security, LLC, the company that operates the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the board of directors for LGS Innovations, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent engaged in government services. Perry is an Advisory Board member for the Partnership for a Secure America, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Perry is also a member of the Board of Sponsors for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He is Member of the Supervisory Council of the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe. Perry also sits on the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Club of California and the Board of Directors of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, DC- based think tank that specializes in U.S. national security issues.

In 1999, Perry was awarded the James A. Van Fleet Award by The Korea Society.

On January 5, 2006, he participated in a meeting at the White House of former Secretaries of Defense and State to discuss United States foreign policy with Bush administration officials.

In March, 2006, he was appointed to the Iraq Study Group, a group formed to give advice on the U.S. government's Iraq policy.

On June 17, 2006, Perry gave the featured commencement speech to engineering and science graduates at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

On October 1, 2008, Perry joined the financial board of the Thailand based manufacturing company, Fabrinet, on which he continues to serve.

On October 16, 2008, Perry was award the Sylvanus Thayer Award by the United States Military Academy.

In 2007, Secretary Perry joined three other eminent statesmen, former Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and former Senator Sam Nunn in calling for the United States to take the lead in reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. Their op-ed, "A World Free of Nuclear Weapons", published in the Wall Street Journal, reverberated throughout the world, and is one of the key factors that has convinced political leaders and experts internationally that the conditions are in place to achieve that goal. In 2010 the four produced the documentary Nuclear Tipping Point. The film is introduced by General Colin Powell, narrated by Michael Douglas and includes interviews with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Honors

: Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1997. : Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1998. : Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun, 2002. : Ordre National du Merite. : Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir 1998.

See also

Timeline of United States and China relations 1995-1997

Notes

References

DoD biography

William Perry at the Mathematics Genealogical Database

External links

Lessons in Leadership, podcast of William Perry speaking at Stanford University

{{U.S. Secretary box | before= Les Aspin | after= William S. Cohen | years= 1994–1997 | president= Bill Clinton | department= Secretary of Defense}}

Category:1927 births Category:American Unitarian Universalists Category:Clinton Administration cabinet members Category:Living people Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni Category:Stanford University alumni Category:Stanford University faculty Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Category:Politicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Ordre national du Mérite Category:United States Deputy Secretaries of Defense Category:United States Secretaries of Defense Category:Pennsylvania Democrats

de:William Perry es:William Perry fr:William Perry ko:윌리엄 í?˜ë¦¬ nl:William Perry ja:ウィリアム・J・ãƒ?リー no:William Perry pl:William Perry ru:Перри, УильÑ?м ДжеймÑ? sl:William James Perry fi:William Perry sv:William Perry

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	William Perry
|position	Defensive tackle, Fullback
Number	72, 90, 95
Birth date	December 16, 1962
Birth place	Aiken, South Carolina
Heightft	6
Heightin	2
Weight	335
Debutyear	1985
Debutteam	Chicago Bears
Finalyear	1994
Finalteam	Philadelphia Eagles
Draftyear	1985
Draftround	1
Draftpick	22
College	Clemson
Pastteams	Chicago Bears (–) Philadelphia Eagles (–) London Monarchs (WLAF) (1996)
Stat1label	Sacks
Stat1value	29.5
Stat2label	Games
Stat2value	138
Stat3label	Offensive TDs
Stat3value	3
Nfl	PER762750
Highlights	1× Super Bowl champion (XX) }}

William Perry (born December 16, 1962) is a former professional American football player. He is best known for his years as a defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears. In reference to his large size, he was popularly known as "The Refrigerator" or, abbreviated, "The Fridge".

Life and athletic career

Perry was born in Aiken, South Carolina. He has stated in an interview that, "Even when I was little, I was big." After a successful career at Aiken High School (South Carolina), Perry played college football at Clemson University. In 1985, he was selected in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "The Refrigerator" for his gargantuan, almost rhomboid, frame, Perry was and weighed at his peak weight. He quickly became a favorite of the Chicago Bears fans.

Perry, who wore number 72 as a Chicago Bear, became famous for his prowess as a defensive lineman. In addition, Perry was used as a fullback when his team was near the opponents' goal line or 4th and short situations, either as a ball carrier or a lead blocker for running back Walter Payton. During his rookie season, Perry rushed for 2 touchdowns and caught a pass for one. Perry was once used in a surprise play during a Pro Bowl game as an offensive lineman.

Perry even had the opportunity to run the ball during Super Bowl XX, as a nod to his popularity and contributions to the team's success. The first time he got the ball, he was tackled for a one-yard loss while attempting to throw his first NFL pass on a halfback option play. The second time he got the ball, he scored a touchdown.

Perry went on to play for ten years in the NFL. His Super Bowl ring size is the largest of any professional football player in the history of the event. His ring size is 25, while the ring size for the average adult male is between 10 and 12.

Perry retired after the 1994 season. In his 10 years as a pro, he played in 138 games, recording 29.5 sacks and 5 fumble recoveries, which he returned for 71 yards. In his offensive career he ran 5 yards for 2 Tds. Perry later attempted a comeback, playing the 1996 season with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europa).

Beyond football

After retiring from football, Perry was involved in a few other entertainment endeavors, including the following: In 2006, he began marketing his own branded barbecue sauce.

In 2006, he participated in the Lingerie Bowl as the super sub.

Perry participated in a World Wrestling Federation battle royal at ''WrestleMania 2'' in Rosemont, Illinois. In 2006, he returned to the Chicago area to be inducted into the "Celebrity Wing" of the WWE Hall of Fame by John Cena.

In 2002 he lost in the third round to former NBA basketball player Manute Bol in a charity boxing match on the Fox Network's Celebrity Boxing program. Perry entered the match visibly above his NFL playing weight. The Fridge is one of several real people to be immortalized as a ''G.I. Joe'' action figure. Like Sgt. Slaughter before him, Perry's figure was available through mail order. The figure was offered in 1986, the same year the Bears defeated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

During his popular tenure with the Bears, Perry participated in the recording of two rap records, both in 1985, in addition to the team's very popular "Super Bowl Shuffle".

Walter Payton and Perry recorded an anti-drug, pro-peace rap tune entitled "Together" which was written by four Evanston, Illinois teens. It was re-released in 1999 with part of the profits going to the Walter Payton Foundation.

Popular rap trio The Fat Boys recorded a twelve-inch single titled "Chillin' with the Refrigerator" released on Sutra Records.

A novelty hit, "Frig-O-Rator", was released in December 1985 on the Motown label by Roq-In' Zoo and featured sound bites of Bears game plays. The following year The Fridge was yet again remembered in a rap song, this time by the obscure Los Angeles-based hip-hop group Hard Machine who released the single "Refrigerator".

In 2000, he was defeated by Bob Sapp in a toughman boxing competition on FX.

In 2003, he appeared in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest as a "celebrity contestant". He stopped eating 5 minutes into the competition. This was parodied in an episode of TV Funhouse from the November 11, 2006 episode of Saturday Night Live in which Takeru Kobayashi plays a hot dog eating superhero. After Kobayashi saves the day by eating a lot of hot dogs, a cartoon William Perry makes an appearance saying "Damn!" in Japanese.

In 2003, he appeared in a TV movie by Comedy Central called ''Windy City Heat,'' where a man named Perry Caravello was made to believe he was acting in a major motion picture.

He starred in a commercial in the 1980s with Jim McMahon, fellow Chicago Bears teammate for Coke Classic and Coke.

Appears on the Chef Tony infomercial endorsing ''My Rotisserie'' in a number of acted scenes where he plays poker with his friends, while singing the praises of the kitchen appliance.

He made a guest appearance in the '80s TV show ''The A-Team''. In the 21st episode of the 4th season ('The Trouble with Harry') "Fridge" signs in to the same hospital The A-Team is using to help their friend Harry recover. Throughout the episode, Perry only has a few lines (including the funny: "They'll never catch him," referring to his NFL playing days), but he gives out 'Bears' caps in the final scene. B. A. Baracus and Hulk Hogan (who guest starred in the episode as well) react angrily when they don't get a cap, but the large sized Perry is able to calm them down with his huge smile.

He also made a short appearance in the opening of ''According to Jim'' (Season 8, Episode 15).

After he retired as a player, Perry founded his own small commodity hedge fund in his native South Carolina and made numerous public appearances.

Recently, he was named Director of Football Operations for the Continental Indoor Football League's Chicago Slaughter.

In June 2008, he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a chronic inflammation disorder of the peripheral nerves. On April 22, 2009, Perry was hospitalized in South Carolina in serious condition from his Guillain-Barré syndrome. Perry spent approximately a month in the hospital before being released. At one point his weight fell to , before going back up to .

During Super Bowl XLIV, Perry joined other members of the 1985 Chicago Bears in resurrecting the Super Bowl Shuffle in a Boost Mobile commercial.

In June 2010, it was reported that Perry now suffered from hearing loss, but also that he was improving after his diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. He had lost more than one hundred pounds (), but was, by this time, back up to .

In February 2011, ESPN ran a somber article about him, citing ongoing health and drinking problems, and a weight of .

In April 2011, Cliff Forrest, a 10 year-old child, mistakenly bought a replica Perry Super Bowl ring for $8,500 thinking it was the actual, and gave the ring to Perry.

After his NFL career, The Fridge also does paid corporate appearances and autograph signings. His official website is www.Fridge72.com.

Sources

''Chicago Sun-Times'' article "Sweetness in the words of old duet with Fridge", Monday 8 November 1999, page 97.

Roq-In' Zoo, "Frig-O-Rator", 12 inch single, Motown 4554MG, December 1985.

Hard Machine, "Refrigerator". 12 inch single, On The Spot NRS-112, 1986.

References

External links

WWE Hall of Fame Profile of William Perry

The Fridge Action Figure

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:People from Aiken County, South Carolina Category:American football defensive tackles Category:American football defensive linemen Category:Clemson Tigers football players Category:Chicago Bears players Category:Philadelphia Eagles players Category:London Monarchs players Category:G.I. Joe Category:African American players of American football Category:WWE Hall of Fame

de:William Perry (Footballspieler) ja:ウィリアム・�リー (アメリカンフットボール)

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Kool Keith
background	solo_singer
birth name	Keith Matthew Thornton
alias	Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom, Black Elvis
birth date	October 19, 1963
origin	The Bronx, New York
instrument	Rapping, keyboard, bass guitar
genre	Hip hop
occupation	Rapper, producer
years active	1984–present
label	Junkadelic, Gothom, Funky Ass
associated acts	Ultramagnetic MCsAnalog BrothersMasters of IllusionThee UndatakerzThe Clayborne FamilyKutMasta KurtDan the AutomatorThe Prodigy54-71Diesel TruckersSpazz
website	http://www.koolkeith.co.uk/
notable instruments	}}

Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Aside from pioneering abstract flows, Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of horrorcore.

History

Kool Keith began his rap career with the group Ultramagnetic MCs. After the release of ''Critical Beatdown'', Thornton was reportedly institutionalized in Bellevue Hospital Center. However, he admitted later that the idea that he was institutionalized came from a flippant remark made during a stressful interview and he never expected the story to become so well-known.

Thornton released his first notable solo single, "Earth People," in 1995, under the name Dr. Octagon, followed by the release of ''Dr. Octagonecologyst'' the following year. The album's production by Dan the Automator and Kutmasta Kurt, with scratching by DJ Qbert was acclaimed by critics, and the album was released nationally by DreamWorks Records, who also issued an instrumental version of the album, titled ''Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats)''. Thornton followed the album with ''Sex Style'' in 1997 under the name Kool Keith.

In 1998, Thornton collaborated with Tim Dog for the single "The Industry is Wack," performing under the name Ultra. The following year, he released the album ''First Come, First Served'' under the name "Dr. Dooom", in which the album's main character killed off Dr. Octagon on the album's opening track. On August 10, 1999, Thornton released ''Black Elvis/Lost in Space''. It peaked at #10 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers chart, #74 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and #180 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On July 25, 2000, Thornton released the album ''Matthew''. It peaked at #47 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers chart. The same year, Thornton collaborated with Ice-T, Marc Live, Black Silver and Pimp Rex for the album ''Pimp to Eat'', under the group name Analog Brothers, with Keith performing as Keith Korg and Ice-T as Ice Oscillator.

On June 5, 2001, Thornton released the album ''Spankmaster'' on Esham's Gothom Records. It peaked at #16 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers chart, #11 on the Top Independent Albums chart and #48 on the Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 2002, Thornton began recording ''The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon'' with producer Fanatik J, signing a contract with CMH Records to release the album, which was eventually completed without much input from Thornton, due to a falling out over contractual terms. Thornton, Marc Live and H-Bomb formed the group KHM, releasing the album ''Game'' on November 19, 2002, changing their name to "The Clayborne Family" by the release of their second album.

On October 12, 2004, Real Talk Entertainment issued the unauthorized release ''Dr. Octagon Part 2''. The album was discontinued by court order. On April 25, 2006, Thornton released the album ''Nogatco Rd.'' under the name Mr. Nogatco. On June 27, ''The Return of Dr. Octagon'' was released by OCD International, an imprint of CMH, advertised as the official follow-up to ''Dr. Octagonecologyst''. Some critics felt that it was not as good as its predecessor. Thornton stated that he liked the album, but felt that it hurt his reputation as a musician. In August, Thornton performed under the Dr. Octagon billing, but did not acknowledge the release of the OCD album.

In 2007, Ultramagnetic MCs released the reunion album ''The Best Kept Secret''. In 2009, Kool Keith released the concept album ''Tashan Dorrsett''; a follow-up, ''The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett'', followed two years later.

Lyrical and performance style

Thornton's lyrics are often abstract, surreal, and filled with non-sequiturs and juvenile humor. Thornton is also known for an explicit style focusing on sexual themes, which Thornton has referred to as "pornocore". In a 2007 interview, Thornton claims to have "invented horrorcore".

Discography

''Big Willie Smith'' (1995)

''Ultra - Kool Keith & Tim Dog'' (1996)

''Dr Octagon'' (1996)

''Erotic Man"(1996)

''Sex Style'' (1997)

''Dr Doom'' (1999)

''Black Elvis/Lost In Space'' (1999)

''Analog Brothers - Kool keith ,Ice T , Marc Live'' (200)

''Matthew'' (2000)

''Kool Keith ,Kut Masta Kurt'' (2000)

''Spankmaster'' (2001)

''The Official Space Tape'' (2004)

''The Personal Album'' (2004)

''Feat Kut Masta Kurt'' (2004)

''Execution One'' (2005)

''Nogatco Rd.'' (2006)

''The Return of Dr. Octagon'' (2006)

''Grandmas Boyee'' (2006)

''Dr Octagon'' (2006)

''The Collabs Tape'' (2006)

''Project Polaroid'' (2006)

''The Commisioner'' (2006)

''The Commisioner 2'' (2006)

''7th Veil - Kool Keith, H-Bomb'' (2006)

''Dr. Dooom 2'' (2008)

''Tashan Dorrsett'' (2008)

''Kool Keith & 54-71'' (2009)

''Project X - Kool Keith , Marc Live and Time Dog'' (2009)

''The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett'' (2011)

References

External links

Official website

www.ultrakeith.net

Interview

Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:African American songwriters Category:American bass guitarists Category:American hip hop record producers Category:Musicians from California Category:Horrorcore artists Category:People from the Bronx Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Underground rappers Category:1966 births Category:Reel Life Productions artists

da:Kool Keith de:Kool Keith fr:Kool Keith it:Kool Keith nl:Kool Keith no:Kool Keith