Frigidaire is a dominant U.S. appliance company owned by Electrolux. Frigidaire was originally founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator. This first of its kind refrigerator was invented by Nathaniel B. Wales and Alfred Mellowes in 1916. Two years later, in 1918, William C. Durant, founder of General Motors, personally invested in the company. In 1919, the Guardian Frigerator Company adopted the name Frigidaire. General Motors owned Frigidaire from 1919 to 1979.