Hero of Alexandria, a Greek-Egyptian mathematician and engineer, described the aeolipile in the 1st century CE.
Notes on verification
Well corroborated by Smithsonian, Britannica, and Wikipedia; minor scholarly disagreement exists over Hero's exact dates but consensus supports 1st century CE.
Sources
- Aeolipile (en.wikipedia.org)
- https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1761328 (americanhistory.si.edu)
- https://www.britannica.com/technology/aeolipile (britannica.com)
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/1101.3470 (arxiv.org)
- https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/hero-alexandria (ebsco.com)