Overview of Stuff You Missed in History Class — “Modern Inventions That Are Actually Old”
This episode looks at inventions many people assume are recent, but which actually have surprisingly ancient roots. Holly and Tracy focus on three examples: a first-century steam-powered device and proto-vending machine from Hero of Alexandria, an early Egyptian solution for bad breath, and the mirrored dance-floor reflector that predated the disco ball by decades.
Hero of Alexandria’s Proto-Modern Machines
The eolipile: an ancient steam device
- The episode opens with Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria, a brilliant early common-era inventor and writer whose work covered math, mechanics, measurement, and pneumatics.
- One of his most famous inventions was the eolipile (also called a hero engine), which is often described as an early steam engine.
- It used heat to generate steam and spin a spherical device, demonstrating principles of airflow, pressure, and rotary motion centuries before practical steam machinery existed.
- In Hero’s time, it seems to have been treated more like a clever demonstration or toy than a world-changing technology.
The first vending machine
- Hero also described a device titled something like “Sacrificial Vessel Which Flows Only When Money Is Introduced”.
- It worked by dropping a coin onto a lever, which opened a valve and released liquid—essentially a coin-operated dispenser.
- It was designed to dispense holy water at temples, and the hosts note that this is one of the clearest ancient precursors to the modern vending machine.
Ancient Breath Fresheners and “Mint” Remedies
- The episode then turns to the idea that breath mints are not a modern invention.
- In ancient Egypt’s Ebers Papyrus, there’s a recipe for making the smell of a house or clothing more pleasant by combining aromatic ingredients like myrrh, incense, cypress, resin, and other herbs, then forming them into tablets with honey.
- The hosts note that this was more of an air freshener / herbal deodorizer than a true mint candy, and the recipe doesn’t explicitly center mint.
- They also connect this to Pliny the Elder, who wrote extensively about mint in Natural History and described its use in cooking, medicine, and oral freshness.
- Pliny’s claims about mint preventing milk from curdling are treated skeptically on the show, with the hosts noting that it would not actually preserve milk safely.
The Disco Ball’s Unexpectedly Early Origins
Louis Wiesty and the Myriad Reflector
- The final major invention is the disco ball’s ancestor: Louis Bernard Wiesty’s Myriad Reflector.
- Wiesty, born in 1881 in Ohio, filed a patent in 1916 and received it in 1917.
- His invention was described as a rotating sphere or polyhedral reflector covered in many small mirrors, designed to create a “scintillating and spectacular effect” when lit.
- It was used in dance halls, charity balls, and entertainment venues long before the disco era.
- Newspaper accounts from the 1910s and 1920s show it being marketed as a dazzling novelty that could turn an ordinary hall into a “fairyland” of moving light.
- The device became especially successful as an entertainment feature in the roaring 1920s.
- The modern disco ball later became popular through mass production, and the episode notes that the mirrored-ball tradition survived well beyond Wiesty’s original company.
Main Takeaways
- “Modern” inventions often have much older origins than people expect.
- Inventors like Hero of Alexandria were exploring concepts—steam, coin-operated machines, measurement tools—that wouldn’t become practical until centuries later.
- Ancient cultures also had everyday problem-solving technologies, like early breath-freshening remedies.
- Some inventions, like the disco ball, became famous only after later cultural moments made them newly popular.
End Notes
- The episode closes with the show’s usual listener mail segment, including a humorous note about family cranberry recipes and pet photos.
- As always, the hosts emphasize how historical curiosities often begin with a simple question: “When was that invented?”