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In 1952, Clarence Birdseye marketed the first frozen peas in Chester, N.Y. As a U.S. field naturalist near the Arctic, he had learned the technique of flash freezing from Labrador Inuit. When freshly caught fish were placed onto the Arctic ice in the frigid wind, they froze solid almost immediately. In Sep 1922, he began a company, Birdseye Seafoods, Inc., to process chilled fish fillets at a plant near the Fulton Fish Market in New York City. On 3 Jul 1924, he organized the General Seafood Corporation, which began the frozen foods industry. Retail frozen foods began 6 Mar 1930, in Springfield, Massachusetts at the "Springfield Experiment Test Market" which offered 26 different vegetables, fruits, fish, and meats.
In 1957, Laika, the first space dog and living creature in space, was launched on a one way journey. Soviet scientists and zoologists nicknamed her Laika (Russian for "Barker"), the name by which the world now remembers her. Laika entered the Russian space program having been captured as a stray from the streets of Moscow. Before Sputnik 2, rockets had been launched by both the Soviet Union and the U.S. with animals on board - mice, dogs and monkeys, but Laika was the first to reach the upper layers of the atmosphere in low Earth orbit. This good-natured mongrel took a one-way journey; however, as the planned launch was not designed to be followed by a recovery from orbit. In her temporary home, Laika was surrounded by soft padding and life-support equipment. She was held in a special harness that allowed restricted movement, and she was free to bark. Food and water were provided by an onboard dispenser. Before launch, Laika's coat had been groomed with weak alcohol solution, and combed with patches of her body connected to equipment monitoring her vital signs. Although Laika seemed to suffer no ill-effects during the ascent and initial entry into orbit, there are different stories about the remainder of her life. At Star City, outside Moscow, there now stands a monument to the Russian cosmonauts that perished during their missions along with Laika. In a corner of the edifice, the image of a small mongrel dog, ears standing straight, commemorates the contribution made by the first animal to reach space, blazing the trail that was shortly followed by men and women on mankind's greatest adventure.
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