The Antikythera mechanism, one of the world’s oldest known gadgets, has coughed up another secret. In addition to tracking time and upcoming Olympic games, the mechanism was apparently great at tracking the motion of the Sun across the sky.
This 1942 ad for a comptometer is just perfect because first of all, I had no idea what a comptometer was (a mechanical calculator, basically) and second, the spec sheet is wonderful: no glare dials, elimination of non-essential zeroes, and a “Keystroke Censor.”
Nobody is entirely sure who first had the privilege of sitting on a toilet. Evidence of advanced plumbing systems in the ancient world abounds, but it’s a strange, meandering path from antiquity to checking your inbox on the can.
A man reconstructed the 2000 year old Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient “computer” built by the Greeks to keep track of the moon, the planets and cycles. It’s as amazing now as it was then.
