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'{{Short description|American engineer and inventor of the microwave oven}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Percy Spencer | caption = | birth_name = Percy LeBaron Spencer | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|7|19}} | birth_place = [[Howland, Maine]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1970|9|8|1894|7|19}} | death_place = [[Newton, Massachusetts]], U.S. | death_cause = He was truly gay and a penis went up his ass too far and it killed him. | resting_place = Newton Cemetery, [[Newton, Massachusetts]] | other_names = | known_for = Inventor of [[microwave oven]] | education = [[United States Navy]] | employer = [[Raytheon]] | occupation = {{hlist|Physicist|inventor}} | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = Louise Spencer <br> Lillian Ottenheimer Spencer | partner = | children = 3 | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Percy LeBaron Spencer''' (July 19, 1894 – September 8, 1970) was an American [[physicist]] and inventor. He became known as the inventor of the [[microwave oven]].<ref name="invent">{{cite web|title=Inventors Hall of Fame|url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/percy-l-spencer|access-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref> ==Early life== Spencer was born in [[Howland, Maine]]. Eighteen months later, Spencer's father died, and his mother soon left him in the care of his aunt and uncle. His uncle then died when Spencer was just seven years old. Spencer subsequently left grammar school to earn money to support himself and his aunt. From the ages of twelve to sixteen, he worked from sunrise to sunset at a spool mill. At the later age, he discovered that a local [[paper mill]] was soon to begin using electricity, a concept little known in his rural home region, and he began learning as much as possible about the phenomenon. When he applied to work at the mill, he was one of three people hired to install electricity in the plant, despite never having received any formal training in [[electrical engineering]] or even finishing grammar school. At the age of 18, Spencer decided to join the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]. He had become interested in [[Wireless]] communications after learning about the wireless operators aboard the [[RMS Titanic|Titanic]] when it sank. While he was with the navy, he made himself an expert on radio technology: "I just got hold of a lot of textbooks and taught myself while I was standing watch at night." He also subsequently taught himself trigonometry, calculus, chemistry, physics, and metallurgy, among other subjects.<ref name="invent" /><ref name="todayifoundout">{{cite web|title=Inventor of Microwave Oven|date=August 24, 2011|url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/08/the-microwave-oven-was-invented-by-accident-by-a-man-who-was-orphaned-and-never-finished-grammar-school/|access-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref> ==Career== By 1939 Spencer became one of the world's leading experts in [[radar]] tube design. Spencer worked at [[Raytheon]], a contractor for the [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]], as the chief of the [[Vacuum tube|power tube]] division. While working at Raytheon, Spencer developed a more efficient way to manufacture magnetrons, increasing production from 100 to 2600 magnetrons per day. With his reputation and expertise, Spencer managed to help Raytheon win a government contract to develop and produce combat radar equipment for [[Radiation Laboratory (MIT)|M.I.T.’s Radiation Laboratory]]. This was of huge importance to the [[Allies of World War II]] and became the military's second-highest priority project during World War II, behind the [[Manhattan Project]]. For his work, he was awarded the [[Navy Distinguished Public Service Award|Distinguished Public Service Award]] by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]].<ref name="todayifoundout" /> One day while building magnetrons, Spencer was standing in front of an active radar set when he noticed the [[candy bar]] he had in his pocket melted. Spencer was not the first to notice this phenomenon, but he was the first to investigate it. He decided to experiment using food, including [[popcorn]] kernels, which became the world's first microwaved popcorn. In another experiment, an egg was placed in a tea [[kettle]], and the magnetron was placed directly above it. The result was the egg exploding in the face of one of his co-workers, who was looking in the kettle to observe. Spencer then created the first true microwave oven by attaching a high-density [[electromagnetic field]] generator to an enclosed metal box. The magnetron emitted microwaves into the metal box blocking any escape and allowing for controlled and safe experimentation. He then placed various food items in the box, while observing the effects and monitoring temperatures.<ref name="todayifoundout" /> Raytheon filed a U.S. patent on October 8, 1945, for a microwave cooking oven, eventually named the Radarange.<ref>{{Cite patent|title=Method of treating foodstuffs|gdate=1945-10-08|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US2495429A/en}}</ref> In 1947, the first commercially produced microwave oven was about 6 feet tall, weighed about 750&nbsp;lbs, and cost about $5,000 ({{Inflation|US|5000|1947|fmt=eq}}). In 1967 the first relatively affordable, $495 ({{Inflation|US|495|1967|fmt=eq}}), and reasonably sized (counter-top) [[microwave oven]] was available for sale,<ref name="todayifoundout" /> produced by Amana (a division of Raytheon).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/m/microwaveoven.shtml|title = The Microwave Oven: Percy Spencer}}</ref> Spencer became Senior Vice President and a Senior Member of the Board of Directors at Raytheon. He received 300 patents during his career. Originally, a Raytheon facility in [[Burlington, Massachusetts]] involved in vacuum tube development and manufacturing was named Spencer Labs after Spencer. This facility was eventually closed. Later, a new building at the Raytheon Missile Defense Center in [[Woburn, Massachusetts]], was named in his honor. Other achievements and awards, besides the Distinguished Public Service Award, included membership of the [[Institute of Radio Engineers]], Fellowship in the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], and an [[Honorary degree|Honorary]] [[Doctor of Science]] from the [[University of Massachusetts]], despite having no formal education. For his invention, Spencer received no [[Royalty payment|royalties]], but he was paid a one-time $2.00 [[gratuity]] from Raytheon, the same token payment the company made to all inventors on its payroll at that time for company patents.<ref>{{cite web|title=NNDB Noteworthy Name Database Historical Facts|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/766/000165271/|access-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref> ==Personal life== Spencer and his wife, Louise, had three children: John, James, and George. He counted [[Vannevar Bush]], [[Omar Bradley]], [[William Redington Hewlett]] and [[David Packard]] as friends. Later, he was married to Lillian Ottenheimer on November 18, 1960. ==Legacy== [[Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems]], which deals extensively in radar systems, has named a building after Spencer in the [[Woburn, Massachusetts]] facility. An early Radarange model sits in the lobby, across from the dining center. == References == {{reflist}} == External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140325193613/http://www.softslide.us/gramps/index.htm "Gramps - How an orphan from Maine became the Edison of the modern age" by Rod Spencer] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20030819201929/http://inventionatplay.org/inventors_spe.html Inventor's Stories: Percy Spencer] * [https://www.invent.org/inductees/percy-l-spencer Percy L. Spencer - The National Inventors Hall of Fame] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080325120605/http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/history.html Who Invented Microwaves?] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120929000206/http://www.softslide.us/volumes/v2/t3/history/readers_digest.htm "Percy Spencer and His Itch to Know" by Don Murray, Reader's Digest, August 1958] {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Percy}} [[Category:1894 births]] [[Category:1970 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American engineers]] [[Category:People from Penobscot County, Maine]] [[Category:Raytheon Company people]] [[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award]] [[Category:20th-century American inventors]]'