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Fact of the day: The 250-year-old Silver Swan
In 1773—long before AI, robotics, or even electricity—a team of master craftsmen built a swan that could move like the real thing. The Silver Swan automaton, crafted from gleaming silver and powered by intricate clockwork, glides on water, bends its neck, preens its feathers, and even catches a fish… all while gentle music plays.
For more than 250 years, the Silver Swan has enchanted audiences with its lifelike grace. Handcrafted by James Cox and John Joseph Merlin, it became a wonder of its age—so much so that even Mark Twain wrote about being mesmerised by it in the 1800s. Today, you can still see the Swan perform daily at the Bowes Museum in England. It’s more than a machine—it’s living proof that human imagination can breathe life into metal, blending art, science, and magic centuries before 'robots' were even a word.
Source: BBC Antiques Roadshow / YouTube
