You know the drill. You put your leftovers on a microwave-safe plate, pop it into the microwave, hit a few buttons, and like magic, it’s warm and ready to eat. And all this takes place in a few seconds rather than the minutes or hours that the stove and oven can take.
Who was the genius who invented this wonderful creation? As a matter of fact, his name was Percy Spencer and his invention was an accident! Spencer worked for a company named Raytheon, developing microwave radar transmitters during World War II.
One day in 1945, he noticed that a candy bar he had in his pocket was starting to melt. The microwaves from the radar set he was working on were cooking the candy bar in his pocket!
With a little experimentation, Spencer figured out that the microwaves could be concentrated to heat food. He created the first working microwave oven, and the first food he cooked in it was popcorn.
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