naure.com
HistorySurprise 5/5Difficulty 4/5Reviewed on September 14, 2026

The Antikythera mechanism is considered the first analog computer.

Why it is true

The Antikythera mechanism, found in a Greek shipwreck in 1901, is a bronze device with more than 30 gears. It was used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses, more than 1,000 years before similar computers were invented in Europe.

Source: National Geographic

Would you rather be asked first?

This is the reading side of the site, so the answer is in the sentence above — that is the whole point of it. Test yourself works the other way round: the question comes on its own, and the fact and the explanation only appear once you have answered.

Test yourself →10-question challenge

Related facts

More in History

See all →