First-century Roman engineers invented the very first vending machine specifically to dispense controlled amounts of holy water to temple worshipers in exchange for a simple coin.

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First-century Roman engineers invented the very first vending machine specifically to dispense controlled amounts of holy water to temple worshipers in exchange for a simple coin. The concept of automated retail began entirely as a brilliant method to prevent excessively pious citizens from aggressively stealing too much sacred liquid during their religious rituals. It perfectly demonstrates that humanity has always sought to monetize access and automate the extraction of wealth, whether we are dealing with spiritual salvation or a desperately needed bag of overpriced potato chips in a hospital waiting room. We have spent two thousand years perfecting this exact economic technology, and the modern machines still occasionally steal your dollar bill and refuse to drop your snack