Ancient Egypt’s First Vending Machine

The first vending machine was invented in ancient Egypt over two thousand years ago,

and it dispensed holy water. A Greek engineer named Hero of Alexandria designed it to prevent

priests from stealing temple offerings. When you dropped a coin in the slot, it would land on

a small pan connected to a lever. The weight of the coin would tip the lever,

opening a valve that released a measured amount of holy water. Once the coin slipped

off the pan, the valve closed automatically. This ingenious device solved a very human

problem of trust and theft in sacred spaces. What's wild is that this same basic

mechanism of exchanging money for a product is still used in vending machines today.