Tag Archives: Microwave oven

This day in the Yesteryear: RAYTHEON PATENTS PERCY SPENCER’S MICROWAVE (1945)


Raytheon Patents Percy Spencer’s Microwave (1945)

Self-taught engineer Percy Spencer discovered the cooking potential of microwaves in the 1940s. While working on magnetrons for the Raytheon Company, he noticed that a peanut butter chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. He determined that microwaves emitted from his magnetrons had cooked the candy bar and confirmed this theory by testing it on popcorn. Raytheon patented Spencer’s microwave oven in 1945 and put it on the market in 1947. What was the first food to explode in a microwave? More… Discuss