Microwave is a practical discovery, which is why about 90% of American households now have one, according to the US Labor Statistics Bureau. Equipment also has a long history. Initially, a heavy, expensive microwave unit, and mostly found on the train, ships, and restaurants where food is regularly cooked for a large number of people. Per quartz, a less large and cheaper model for home was only developed in 1955.
The model, made by Raytheon defense contractor, costs around $ 1,300. The company sells tools for more than a decade, and, in 1967, finally released an updated version that was easier in the wallet at a price of around $ 500 – one with the same general design as a microwave found in many modern kitchens.
Considering the use of microwave ovens, the journey to become a household name is not surprising. In the ad, this revolutionary kitchen equipment is said to make “easy cooking life.” In 1980, around 20% of American households had a microwave (via wapo).
When we look back at their history, microwave ovens did not lack from strange discoveries – they were created accidentally by one of the most valuable Raytheon engineers, Percy Spencer.
Accident leads to a modern microwave
Microwave oven in the store
More than 70 years ago, Percey Spencer – popular scientists in Raytheon – found that her snack melted in her pocket during the experiment involving the magnetron, which was a type of vacuum tube that produced a microwave and used in the initial radar system. Before the discovery of microwave ovens, microwave technology is only used as part of the radar system to measure the distance between objects.
“Gramps hard, want to make everything happen at any time,” The Engineer’s Gradson George “Rod” Spencer Jr said about his grandfather in an interview with popular mechanics.
Some say melophously that inspires Spencer is chocolate bar, but Rod believes it’s popcorn. Engineers who want to know immediately run more tests, including one involving eggs that exploded moments later, covering her face. “I always think that this is the origin of the phrase ‘egg on your face,'” Spencer Jr told the outlet.
The first microwave tool arrived at the market a year after the discovery of Spencer. According to Wired, the large device costs more than $ 2,000 and weighs around 750 pounds. In the following years, microwave ovens became cheaper and crashed into the mainstream American consumer market, became one of the most popular kitchen equipment.