Percy Spencer
American inventor
(1894-1970)
Percy Lebaron Spencer was born in Howland, Maine on July 9, 1894.  His father died in 1987 when he was barely three years old and his mother left him shortly after that.  For some time he lived with his aunt and uncle, and at the age of twelve he became an apprentice in a spool mill.  In 1912 he joined the US Navy to learn wireless telegraphy and in the 1920’s he went to work for the Raytheon Company.  During his career at Raytheon he received almost 300 patents, but he is most remembered as the man who invented the microwave oven. 

Information from Who Invented Microwaves and Wikipedia