Microwave ovens is a popular and one of the most common
household entity for any average earning individual nowadays. But,
the heating principle ideology by which they work was discovered
just because of an accident that occur.

This technology might not have been discovered if it weren’t for
American engineer Percy Spencer and his bar of chocolate. How
did a bar of chocolate help him invent it? Here is his intriguing
story.

Percy Spencer was in his late forties when he was working with
high-powered vacuum tubes that were very common in the radar
technology near the end of World War II. They were called
magnetrons due to their strong magnetic properties.They also generated microwaves that were unknown at that time.

Percy Spencer was working on a project when he noticed that a
bar of chocolate in his pocket began to melt all of a sudden. He
knew that the temperature of the ambient atmosphere was average
so it couldn’t have been the heated air that was causing his
chocolate to melt.

He researched and found out that the high-energy microwaves
were heating up the chocolate. He further found out that anything
containing water could also be heated up with this.

Microwave ovens were then simple enough to make. Just like any
technology, they were huge in the beginning, and continuous
engineering of different ideas evolving turned them into cute little
kitchen appliances we now have these days.

There is a picture of one of the first microwave oven ever produced below.

Spencer was more of an engineer more than anything. He knew
right away that the peculiar heating phenomenon could aid cooking
in years to come. He immediately got a bag of popcorn, and it
started popping over the place. Much like we do nowadays making
our own popcorns.

He patented the technology in an instant and began to make and
market his product with the name “RadaRange”. Now, this was
quite confusing because his invention didn’t clearly tell people
exactly what it does.

He manufactured and sold these huge fridge-sized ovens. They
needed thirty minutes before they were heated up and could be
used.

Their heating power was much more than required by normal
household cooking. RadaRange could easily cook a potato within
seconds!

Although, Spencer got defeated at converting his product into
people-friendly or home friendly because he was no Steve Jobs.
The early microwave oven was a failure because it was useful, but
people couldn’t control its heating power easily. Even though he
failed on the financial front, his name has been included in the
National Inventors Hall of Fame in America among many other
awards.

His idea and invetion has made food preparation easy and
now, the microwave is used in almost every home in the world.

In conclusion, big Thanks to Percy Spencer, a legendary engineer,
for noticing that chocolate bar in his pocket or else I wouldn't be
able to make my own popcorn whenever I am going to the cinema!

Source :- http://www.geniusvilla.net/2015/07/did-you-know-microwave-was-invented.html?m=0