History

The first person to be cryogenically frozen was a 73-year-old man, Dr. James Bedford, wh­o was suspended in 1967. He was a retired psychology professor who died due to cancer. His body is reportedly still in good condition at Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

The idea that a person could be frozen and then brought back to life when the technology had evolved far enough originated with the book "The Prospect of Immortality," written by physics teacher Robert Ettinger in 1964. The thesis of Ettinger's book was that  any individual cooled to such temperatures could be maintained in that state until such as the meat or vegetables on the refrigerator, as well as any freezing damage itself, could be repaired and the person cured and restored to life.In short: if a person dying today were cooled quickly enough, he or she could reasonably expect to be restored to life at some point in the future.

                                                          

Sources: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/cryonics4.htm   
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/23695785