A melted chocolate bar helps create the microwave Percy Spencer was so fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic that he became a scientist. He joined the US Navy, trained as a radio electrician, and ultimately became a civilian expert on radar during the Second World War, earning the Distinguished Public Service Award for his work. And he did it all without ever having finished secondary school.
After the war, Spencer worked for Raytheon Manufacturing, a defence contractor. As he was walking near the radar equipment one day, he absent-mindedly stuck his hand in his shirt pocket—and found a gooey mess. Spencer often carried a Mr Peanut chocolate bar to feed the squirrels at lunch. He knew enough about radar to suspect that its heat-producing magnetron waves could be the culprit, but he wasn’t sure. So he placed a bag of popcorn kernels in front of the machine—and they popped. Then came a raw egg, which dutifully exploded all over a skeptical colleague’s face.
Spencer fine-tuned his discovery with Raytheon and marketed it to airlines, railways, restaurants, and cruise liners as “the Radarange”—or, as it’s known now, the microwave oven. Fortunately, microwave units have come a long way since 1947, when they stood nearly six feet tall, weighed 750 pounds, and cost £3,000. That’s roughly £25,000 today.
A coconut saves JFK’s life
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