The first historical record of a stove being built, refers to a stove built in 1490, in Alsace, France. This stove was made entirely of brick and tile, including the flue.

Brief History of Cast Iron Stoves in America
Lots of good pictures accompanied by a small amount of text. Around 1728, cast iron stoves really began to be made in quantity. These first stoves of German design, are called  Five-plate or Jamb stoves.

Column Parlor Stoves
Parlor Stoves
Cookstoves and Ranges

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) invented the iron furnace stove or 'Franklin Stove'.

Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist designed the first sootless kerosene stove.

Jordan Mott invented the first practical coal stove in 1833. Mott's stove was called the baseburner. The stove had ventilation to burn the coal efficiently.

British inventor, James Sharp patented a gas stove in 1826, the first successful gas stove to appear on the market.

The Carpenter Electric Heating Manufacturing Co. invented an electric stove in 1891. On June 30, 1896, William Hadaway was issued the first patent for the electric stove. In 1910, William Hadaway went on to design the first toaster made by Westinghouse, a horizontal combination toaster-cooker.

Second Industrial Revolution Stoves
The coal stove was cylindrical and made of heavy cast iron with a hole in the top, which was then enclosed by an iron ring. Gas stoves were found in most households by the 1920s with top burners and interior ovens. It was not until the late 1920s and early 1930s that electric stoves began to compete with gas stoves, however, electric stoves were available as early as the 1890s.

Microwave Ovens
The microwave oven was a by-product of another technology. It was during a radar-related research project around 1946 that Dr. Percy Spencer, an engineer with the Raytheon Corporation, noticed something very unusual.

Related Innovations
Kitchen Appliances
Food History