Day 37: Microwave oven
The microwave oven was first sold in 1947, by Raytheon. Although now Raytheon is one of the largest aerospace and military contracting companies in the world, it started out as an appliance company, first making radar technology using — you guessed it — microwaves.
Those early microwave ovens were about 6ft. tall and used for commercial kitchens. The first popular model for home use was created in 1967.
The heating power of microwaves was discovered accidentally (because of course it was — who would ever try to cook something with radar?) A self-taught engineer from Howland, Maine (shout out, fellow Mainers) named Percy Spencer made the discovery. He noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket started to melt while he was working on a radar system while employed by Raytheon.
Officially, the first food cooked using microwaves on purpose was popcorn (fitting).
Bonus Fact: In the 1950s, British scientists used microwave technology to reanimate cryogenically frozen hamsters. I’m not sure why one would want to do that, but they did.
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