 percy lebaron spencer (19 july 1894 â 8 september 1970) was an american engineer and inventor. he became known as the inventor of the microwave oven. ==early life== spencer was born in howland, maine. at the age of just 18 months old, spencerâs 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. at the age of 12, he began working from sunrise to sunset at a spool mill, which he continued to do until he was 16 years old. at this time, he heard of a local paper mill that was going to begin using electricity. spencer was from a very remote community in maine, where people knew very little about electricity. he was so intrigued that he began learning all he could about it. he applied for this work at the paper mill, and was one of three people who were 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 u.s. navy. he had become interested in wireless communications after learning about the wireless operators aboard the titanic when it sank. while with the navy, he made himself an expert on radio technology: âi just got hold of a lot of textbooks and taught myself while i was standing watch at night.â he also subsequently taught himself trigonometry, calculus, chemistry, physics, and metallurgy, among other subjects. ==career== by 1939, spencer became one of the worldâs leading experts in radar tube design. spencer was now working at raytheon, a contractor for the united states department of defense, as the chief of the power tube division. largely due to his reputation and 
1894_births 1970_deaths American_engineers American_inventors People_from_Penobscot_County,_Maine Raytheon_people Recipients_of_the_Navy_Distinguished_Public_Service_Award