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
That’s pretty fucking incredible
You had me at wine vending nachine
With inflation 5 cents 2000 years ago is worth $1 billion
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.
