The new wave

Like many of the world’s best inventions, the microwave oven was a happy accident. And it was Raytheon engineer, Percy Spencer, who introduced this revolutionary new way to cook.

In 1946, while testing magnetron, Percy felt a peanut bar in his pocket melt. He then placed an uncooked egg and popcorn next to a magnetron. Both foods exploded over the lab, inspiring him and his colleagues to explore microwave radiation in cooking. Raytheon then sold the first domestic microwave oven, called Radarange, in 1947.

Along with this invention, Percy was granted 300 patents throughout his career. As his grandson, Rod Spencer, said about him: “There were no ‘challenges’, simply a goddamn problem that needed to be solved”. Today, Abel + Imray continues this legacy as outside counsel for Panasonic’s home appliance sector in the UK. Every year, we help protect its novel ideas around cooking and explore all kinds of solutions that make everyday life that bit easier.