1833: Nearly 100 tons of ice, cut in blocks from frozen New England lakes earlier in the year, arrives in Calcutta. The first shipment of ice imported to India soon fires up a market for cold drinks in a country unaccustomed to such a chilly luxury.

Illustration: Leo Espinosa

It’s fall again, which means a new season’s worth of TV programming packed with network television promises of “original” shows and “fresh” characters. But when I flip on my 152-inch, 1080p, 120-Ghz, 3-D