this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] otter@lemmy.ca 89 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The earliest known reference to a vending machine is in the work of Hero of Alexandria, an engineer and mathematician in first-century Roman Egypt. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed wine2 or holy water.3 When the coin was deposited, it fell upon a pan attached to a lever. The lever opened a valve which let some wine flow out. The pan continued to tilt with the weight of the coin until it fell off, at which point a counterweight snapped the lever up and turned off the valve.

Neat

[–] Damage@slrpnk.net 36 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Shit we had wine2 back then and yet I'm still drinking wine1?

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

have you tried holy water9? afterward you spend the day feeling all

[–] toynbee@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

Just make sure you avoid Ice-9.

[–] RichardDegenne@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

Don't forget holy water :3

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 11 points 1 week ago

It's just full of rocks, Jim

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's pretty fucking incredible

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Greeks created programmable robots, powered by string.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They beat Ada Lovelace? Citation needed.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Its the same inventor as this machine, referred to as the Hero of Alexandria. Largely they were complex theater puppets.

Coincidentally I ran into it reading up on automata in mythology today.

I'll add my favorite bit of ancient technology here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

[–] bigpEE@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] toynbee@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

Hiro Protagonist, presumably.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Lmfao I probably should know that thank you

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

Heros are delicious

I'm guessing you're a Click spring fan too?

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago

Plot twist: Lovelace has that name because she was another rope-powered robot!

[–] Pacrat173@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I wonder how much it would cost in modern cash

[–] Steve@startrek.website 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Still 1 coin, since it operated on the weight of whatever you put in.

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So one penny is probably the best deal.

[–] TaterTot@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'd reckon a nearby small rock might be better?

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago

I would use the coin the vending operator wanted me to as long as it exists in this millennium, but I would have to be on the lookout for sheisters with their arcade tokens and coin blanks:

[–] Town@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 week ago

I wonder how consistent the pours were.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

You had me at wine vending nachine

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 3 points 1 week ago

RIP Necco Wafers, you were better than like half the stuff in that photo.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

wine... holy water. wine... holy water.

Shit, I only have one coin! I guess the blessing will have to wait.

(I love it when people learn this)

edit: and I think it's so cool that the weight of the coin determined how long the valve stayed open. Real money and all that.

[–] Karmanopoly@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

With inflation 5 cents 2000 years ago is worth $1 billion