8 Modern Inventions That Are Actually Super Ancient

4. Ancient Greek Robots

Remember Hero, of vending machine fame? Well it turns out that he was a busy boy, and is thought to be the creator of the earliest known robot.

Yes. Robot.

To be fair, it might not have looked much like the immediate image that springs to the modern mind when we say the word "robot" - a humanoid automaton that may or may not have a thirst for the destruction of the human race - but more of a Roomba set up consisting of a little wheeled cart and a system of weights and pulleys.

Oh, and it was programmable.

Depending on how you set up or "programmed" the weights and pulleys, the thing would power itself, turn corners and plot the downfall of mankind all on its own (probably).