James Bedford becomes first cryonically frozen human

On January 12, 1967, Dr. James Bedford became the first person to be cryonically preserved, or frozen, with the goal of being revived in the future.

Bedford was a professor of psychology at the University of California and the author of several books in his field. A few hours after his death from cancer, Bedford’s body was placed at a specific sub-zero temperature, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

As reported by CE Report, in his will, the 73-year-old also left $100,000 to be used for maintaining his body in a frozen state. Since then, January 12 has been observed as Bedford Day by those who believe in this method of preservation, hoping to return to life when medicine becomes capable of curing all diseases.