Dr. James Hiram Bedford was a man of many talents – a professor at the

University of California and a veteran of World War I who lived a fulfilled life and traveled the

world. But this man will be best remembered as the first person whose body underwent cryonic preservation.

It is the practice of preserving a human body (or brain) at extremely low temperatures after death.

Bedford, who was a rather wealthy man, was diagnosed with kidney cancer

that metastasized to his lungs in 1967, a time when the medicine was not as advanced as it is today.

At the time of his diagnosis, Bedford was familiar with the concept of cryonic preservation.

He read about in the book The Prospect of Immortality by Dr. Robert Ettinger.

Dr. Ettiger is the founder of the Cryonics Institute and is considered the father of body freezing experiments.

His institute provides body freezing services after death,

with the aim of potentially reviving it in the future when medical

technology has advanced enough to cure the condition that caused the individual’s death