Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria was the Da Vinci of his time, coming up with ideas for all sorts of inventions including a pneumatic steam-powered system that would open large temple doors when a fire was lit on the altar. (he had a flair for the dramatic, and created other sorts of “special effects” too)
He also set his mind to practical problems, like those darn Greeks who took too much holy water. He invented a holy water dispensing machine. A coin was dropped into a slot at the top, and would fall onto a tray on a lever. This would pull the stopper out of a bottle of the blessed water, which would drain out a spout in front. The tray would continue to tilt under the weight of the coin, until the coin slid off the end and the lever snapped back, stopping the flow of water once again. Next!
This same tilting-tray mechanism was used in modern vending machines 900 years later, before electricity came into use.
- Source: Old World, High Tech http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ancient_calendar.html
