Did you know that the microwave oven was invented by chance?

Did you know that the microwave oven was completely invented by chance by an American who didn't even finish elementary school? According to the Today I Found Out website, this popular device was created by Percy Spencer in the 1940s, and the first model to be marketed was two meters high, weighed 340 pounds and was sold for the $ 5, 000 trifle ( about $ 10, 000)!

Spencer had an incredible professional career, though he had a very difficult childhood. The inventor started working at the age of 12, and at 16 he became interested in electronics. Self-taught, Spencer was soon hired to work with the installation of power grids, and when he turned 18, he decided to enlist in the US Navy to learn more about radio communications.

Self-taught expert

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During his time in the navy, in addition to becoming an expert on radio and its various technologies, Spencer also learned on his own subjects such as calculus, trigonometry, physics and metallurgy, among other subjects. After a few years and on his own initiative, the inventor eventually became an expert in radar production.

One day while Spencer was working on building magnetrons - a kind of electronic valve - for radars, he realized that standing near one of these active devices, a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted. Although he was not the first person to notice this effect in the vicinity of radar, Spencer was the first to investigate the phenomenon by experimenting with other types of food.

Popcorn!

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Spencer and his team began testing corn, inadvertently breeding - again! - the first microwave popcorn. After several experiments with radar, the inventor decided to create a generator-connected metal box capable of producing a high-density electromagnetic field.

Initially, the intention was to create a safer device for testing in a controlled space, but success in the results eventually led to the company Spencer worked for - Raytheon, military and aerospace equipment - to file a patent for the microwave oven.

More facts about the microwave

  • Contrary to popular belief, microwave ovens do not cook food from the inside out. In fact, they heat from the outside inwards, just as conventional ovens do;
  • Appliances only became popular in the 1970s - when production of smaller, more affordable ovens began - and until then they were known as “electronic ovens”;
  • The kind of radiation emitted by the microwave oven, contrary to popular belief, does not increase the risk of a person developing cancer;
  • Percy Spencer, despite living deep in microwaves for much of his life, died at the age of 76 from natural causes.