There are many inventions that, upon close examination, have already been invented by someone. And it's not about some subtle or unknown things. For example, such a significant mechanism in the history of mankind as the steam engine was invented by Heron of Alexandria, who was born in 10 AD - one of the greatest inventors in the history of civilization.
At the same time, this device was the first steam turbine, and also a jet engine.
Of course, this discovery was far ahead of its time and was not used as it could and as we are used to.
This device, called the "Ball of the Wind God Aeolus" - eolipil, also known as "Heron's engine" or "Heron's ball", was a closed container, from above which came out two tubes, fastened in the middle by a ball that could rotate on them. The ball had a pair of opposed to each other L-shaped pipes.
Water was poured into the container through a single hole and plugged tightly with a cork. A fire was made under the container, the water boiled and steam through the pipes entered the ball and escaped from the pipes. Under the influence of the reactive force, the ball began to rotate, which could not but make a stunning impression on Heron's contemporaries.
A copy of the steam "Heron's ball", made by our contemporaries, accelerated to 1500 rpm, giving out a pressure of 0.7 atm / sq. Inch.
Interestingly, some researchers believe that this mechanism was not invented by Heron, he was only the first to describe its device, along with 78 other mechanisms (in a work known as "Pneumatics"). The first such device could well have been made by Ctesibius of Alexandria three centuries before Heron, who drew many ideas from the works of Ctesibius.
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The second birth of eolipil happened in 1577. A similar design was reinvented by Taki Al-Din, an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher.
And the third invention of eolipil took place two centuries later - in 1750. It is known as the Segner Wheel. The Hungarian mechanic Janos Segner created the first hydraulic turbine on the principle of eolipil (i.e., instead of steam, the wheel was turned by water).
The Segner wheel is still used by people, both as an example of the operation of hydro turbines and jet engines for physics lessons, and in irrigation mechanisms in parks and agriculture.
