The Mechanical Turk
A chess machine plays Napoleon — with a man hidden inside
In 1770 Wolfgang von Kempelen showed Empress Maria Theresa a chess-playing automaton dressed as a Turk. For 84 years it toured Europe and America, beating opponents including Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin. The secret was a strong chess player hidden inside the cabinet.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
Did you know
Napoleon lost at chess to a 'robot' with a man inside. For 84 years the Mechanical Turk passed as an automaton, while strong players took turns hiding in the cabinet; Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin both played it. Share →
Amazon Mechanical Turk is named after a chess automaton from 1770. Just like the original Turk, the 'smart machine' is really people: thousands of workers doing small tasks behind the interface. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1762 Accession of Catherine the Great — 8 years earlier
- 1764 Founding of the Hermitage — 6 years earlier
- c. 1768 Extinction of Steller's sea cow — 2 years earlier
- 1772–1795 Partitions of Poland — 2 years later
- 1783 Russian annexation of Crimea (1783) — 13 years later
Middle East
- 1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani founds the Afghan state — 23 years earlier
Asia
- 1755–1758 The Dzungar genocide — 15 years earlier
- 1757 Battle of Plassey — 13 years earlier
- 1761 Third Battle of Panipat — 9 years earlier
Americas
- 1776 US Declaration of Independence — 6 years later
- 1787 US Constitution — 17 years later
- 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution — 21 years later
Oceania
- 1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — 2 years earlier
- 1788 First Fleet arrives in Australia — 18 years later
Alive at the time
- Voltaire (aged 76)
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 64)
- James Cook (aged 42)
- Catherine the Great (aged 41)
- George Washington (aged 38)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (aged 21)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (aged 14)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (aged 1)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (aged 0)
- Carl Linnaeus (aged 63)