# Earliest control panel?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-control-panel/941695>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 9, 2021, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-control-panel/941695 "2021-05-09T06:09:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-control-panel/941695/5 "2021-05-09T10:56:48Z")

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Around 1-2 centuries B.C.E.

> **[Antikythera mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)**
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> The Antikythera mechanism (/ˌæntɪkɪˈθɪərə/ AN-tih-kih-THEER-ə) is an Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest known example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. It could also be used to track the four-year cycle of athletic games which was similar to an Olympiad, the cycle of the ancient Olympic Games.
> This artefact was among wreckage retrieved from a shipwreck off th...

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