In 1626, Sir Francis Bacon, one of the most influential minds of his time, was watching a snowstorm. He was struck by the notion that maybe snow could be used to preserve meat. Determined to find out, he purchased a chicken from a nearby village, killed it, and then, standing outside in the snow, tried to stuff the chicken full of snow to freeze it. The chicken never froze, but Bacon caught a cold that turned into pneumonia, and died shortly afterward.