General Knowledge · 1
What kitchen appliance was invented after an engineer's chocolate bar melted in his pocket near a radar machine in 1945?
Answer
Microwave oven
The heat from the radar equipment's microwave radiation melted the chocolate, prompting engineer Percy Spencer to investigate and eventually develop the microwave oven at Raytheon.
💡 Did you know?
The microwave oven was invented by accident when a researcher's chocolate bar melted in his pocket near a radar machine in 1945.
Other options people guess
- Toaster oven
- Convection oven
- Electric skillet
Topics
- inventions
- technology
- 20th-century
- accidental-discoveries
Know your general knowledge trivia?
Play a free General Knowledge quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More General Knowledge facts
General Knowledge
According to the famous accidental-invention story, where was the chocolate bar located when it melted near a radar machine in 1945?
The microwave oven was invented by accident when a researcher's chocolate bar melted in his pocket near a radar machine in 1945.
General Knowledge
What existing communication system inspired Norman Woodland to design the barcode's pattern of bars?
The barcode was inspired by Morse code. Inventor Norman Woodland thought: dots and dashes could become wide and narrow bars.
General Knowledge
Which company employed the engineer whose radar research accidentally led to the invention of the microwave oven in 1945?
The microwave oven was invented by accident when a Raytheon engineer's chocolate bar melted near a radar machine in 1945.
General Knowledge
Which planet in our solar system takes longer to rotate once on its axis than it does to complete a full orbit of the Sun?
A day on Venus is longer than its year—it takes 243 Earth days to rotate, but only 225 days to orbit the sun.
General Knowledge
In what year did a 20-year-old mathematician write out his theories overnight before dying in a duel the next day?
Evariste Galois solved an unsolved mathematical problem the night before his fatal duel (1832), writing frantically on paper.
General Knowledge
Nellie Bly's 1889–1890 journey around the world was designed to beat the fictional record from which Jules Verne novel?
Nellie Bly circled the globe in 72 days (1889–1890) by train and steamship, beating a fictional record from Jules Verne's novel.