Today on Google's home page is a special Google logo, aka Doodle, for the Antikythera Mechanism. The logo leads you to a page that shows a featured snippet for the query [what is the Antikythera mechanism?] where Wikipedia explains it is "an ancient Greek analog computer and orrery used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendrical and astrological purposes."
Google's Doodle page explains on May 17, 1902 Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais found this device on a shipwreck at Antikythera. It was an ancient analog astronomical computer.
Google wrote:
The mechanism was initially dated around 85 BC, but recent studies suggest it may be even older (circa 150 BC). The crank-powered device was way ahead of its time -- its components are as intricate as those of some 18th-century clocks.Historians continue to ponder the Antikythera Mechanism's purpose and inner workings, and visitors to the National Archaeological Museum of Greece marvel at its delicate complexity. Today's Doodle illustrates how a rusty remnant can open up a skyful of knowledge and inspiration.
Here is a picture of it from Wikipedia:
Forum discussion at Google+.
