Cool History:
Oct. 25, 1955 - The first microwave oven for home use was introduced by the Tappan Company. It initially failed to catch on because it was large, expensive, and only available in built-in/wall-mounted. Also, many didn't understand (or trust) microwave technology, and their food being zapped by invisible rays.
The 1955 Tappan model (intended for home use, and with technology licensed from Raytheon) used 220 volts, cost $1,295 (over $12,500 in today's dollars), and only a few homes had one.
Raytheon coined the term "Radarange" in 1946. It was the first commercially available microwave. It was almost 6 ft tall, weighed 750 lbs, and cost about $5,000 (over $76,500 in today's dollars). Raytheon acquired the Amana Corporation in 1965, and introduced the first countertop microwave oven in 1967, which they named the Radarange. It wasn't cheap, either - at $495 (almost $4200 in today's money). So, two decades after its invention, the microwave oven finally caught on in American homes in the form of Amana's compact unit. Now, over 90% of US homes have a microwave oven.
