The Microwave Oven

Melting Chocolate.

The microwave oven was born in 1946 by accident. Percy Spencer was in one of his Raytheon Company laboratories standing next to a magnetron, which is the operational part of radar equipment, with a chocolate bar in his pocket. The candy melted. Possessed of a scientist's inquisitiveness, Spencer sent for unpopped popcorn. When he put it next to the magnetron, the popcorn popped. After Spencer conducted careful experiments, Raytheon patented the "high frequency dielectric heating apparatus" in 1953.

After Magnetrons, What?

After the war Raytheon was in a quandary. The need for its radar equipment had dropped sharply. Raytheon hoped to continue to supply the government with magnetrons, but who knew when the government would want thousands of magnetrons a week again? The new heating apparatus seemed the answer to a corporate prayer.

Radarange.

The first "Radarange" weighed 750 pounds...

[The entire page is 246 words long]

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