15 Oldest Working Machines on Earth (One Never Stopped for 615 Years)

Fifteen machines that have been running for over a century—some for more than 600 years. From the oldest digital computer still calculating to a light bulb burning since 1901, discover engineering built for immortality, not obsolescence.

From the Centennial Light Bulb in California that's been glowing continuously since 1901 to the Prague Astronomical Clock that's calculated planetary positions since 1410—before Columbus discovered America—these machines prove that planned obsolescence is a modern invention. The Harwell Dekatron computer still thinks in glowing orange pulses. James Watt's 1779 Smethwick Engine still breathes steam. The Paisley Abbey bells cast in 1503 still ring every Sunday.
The Prague Astronomical Clock—the Orloj—has tracked the cosmos for 615 years through empires, wars, and revolutions. It displays multiple time systems, lunar phases, zodiac positions, all computed mechanically without electricity. Every hour, Death rings his bell and the Twelve Apostles parade. The same gears that calculated planetary positions for medieval astrologers still calculate them today.
These aren't museum pieces—they're working machines performing their original tasks. They represent engineering philosophy we've lost: the belief that human creation could transcend human mortality, that quality mattered more than profit, that durability was virtue, not liability.

💬 Which machine amazed you most? Comment below!

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