Wednesday, March 2o, 2024

Question: What accident led to the invention of the microwave oven?

Answer: The melting of a peanut-butter candy bar in the pocket of an engineer who in 1945 was testing magnetrons, which produce microwaves. When he realized the candy bar had warmed and melted in his pocket, he tried it with popcorn, which popped all over the place. Then he brought in an egg and another engineer to witness. The egg blew up in their face. The engineer and his employer, Raytheon, patented the invention as “RadaRange,” the first commercial microwave oven. It cost $5,000 and weighed 750 pounds.