<P> John Theophilus Desaguliers, a British engineer, demonstrated a successful use of a fan system to draw out stagnant air from coal mines in 1727 and soon afterwards he installed a similar apparatus in Parliament . Good ventilation was particularly important in coal mines to reduce casualties from asphyxiation . The civil engineer John Smeaton, and later John Buddle installed reciprocating air pumps in the mines in the North of England . However, this arrangement was not ideal as the machinery was liable to breaking down . </P> <P> With the advent of practical steam power, fans could finally be used for ventilation . In 1837 William Fourness of England installed a steam - driven fan at Leeds . In 1849 a 6 m radius steam driven fan, designed by William Brunton, was made operational in the Gelly Gaer Colliery of South Wales . The model was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 . Also in 1851 David Boswell Reid, a Scottish doctor, installed four steam powered fans in the ceiling of St George's Hospital in Liverpool, so that the pressure produced by the fans would force the incoming air upward and through vents in the ceiling . Improvements in the technology were made by James Nasmyth, Frenchman Theophile Guibal and J.R. Waddle . </P> <P> Between 1882 and 1886 Schuyler Wheeler invented a fan powered by electricity . It was commercially marketed by the American firm Crocker & Curtis electric motor company . In 1882, Philip Diehl developed the world's first electric ceiling fan . During this intense period of innovation, fans powered by alcohol, oil, or kerosene were common around the turn of the 20th century . In 1909, KDK of Japan pioneered the invention of mass - produced electric fans for home use . In the 1920s, industrial advances allowed steel fans to be mass - produced in different shapes, bringing fan prices down and allowing more homeowners to afford them . In the 1930s, the first art deco fan (the "swan fan") was designed . By the 1940s, Crompton Greaves of India became the world's largest manufacturer of electric ceiling fans mainly for sale in India, Asia and the Middle East . By the 1950s, table and stand fans were manufactured in colors that were bright and eye catching . </P> <P> Window and central air conditioning in the 1960s caused many companies to discontinue production of fans . But in the mid 1970s, with an increasing awareness of the cost of electricity and the amount of energy used to heat and cool homes, turn - of - the - century styled ceiling fans became immensely popular again as both decorative and energy efficient units . </P>

Who was it that developed the world s first electric ceiling fan