Background Info on Microwaves

While microwaves were known long before anyone knew how to produce them efficiently, they became important during World War II as a source of radar. Microwaves would bounce off metal surfaces such as a ship, and transmitted back to the original point of transmission with the object's coordinates. The ability to detect and locate enemy aircraft at long distances and at night was crucial to the defense of Allied cities during the war.

In 1945 American radar engineer Percy Le Baron Spencer was working with radar equipment and noticed that some candy he had in his pocket had melted. Spencer soon realized that it was microwaves that had heated the candy. After realizing the potential of his discovery and began to produce the first microwave ovens: Radaranges(Obviously the name didn't catch on). These early devices were large and expensive and it wasn't until about 1967, when the first household microwave oven was produced, that microwave ovens became widely available.

Due to the safety concerns regarding microwave radiation,the general public was slow to accept microwave ovens.