Vending in its earliest known form dates to 215 B.C. in Egypt. The mathematician Hero of Alexandria describes a device found in places of worship that would dispense holy water when a coin was deposited. Centuries later, in 1888, Thomas Adams of the Adams Gum Company installed penny gum dispensing machines on New York's elevated train platforms, and gave vending its start in the United States. Today, vending machines are operated by many thousands of companies nationwide and worldwide. These machines range from relatively simple to highly sophisticated, and offer an enormously diverse array of products. • 215 B.C.   Device to dispense holy water used in the temples of Egypt, described by the mathematician Hero, who lived in            Alexandria.   • 1076 A.D.   Chinese produce a coin-operated pencil vendor.   • 1700s   Coin-operated tobacco boxes appear in English taverns.   • 1886   U.S. grants several patents for coin-operated dispensers.   • 1888   Thomas Adams company installs Tutti-Frutti gum machines on New York elevated train platforms.   • 1902   Horn and Hardart Baking Company opens Automat restaurant in Philadelphia.   • 1905   U.S. Post office begins to use stamp vendors.   • 1920s   First commercial cigarette vending machines enter the market.   • 1930s   Bottled soft drink machines, cooled with ice, appear on the market.   • 1936   National Automatic Merchandising Association is founded.   • 1946   Invention of the first coffee vendors leads to use of vending machines for coffee breaks.   • 1950   First refrigerated sandwich vendors expand lunch menu.   • 1957   U.S. Public Health Service approves Model Vending Sanitation Code, and NAMA establishes industry's first evaluation     program to certify vending equipment.   • 1960   Dollar bill changers are added to vending banks.   • 1980   Electronic components applied to vending machines.   • 1985   Credit card/debit card devices for vending machines introduced.   • 1986   100th Anniversary of vending in U.S.   • 1991   Flavored coffees, espresso, and cappuccino introduced in machines.   • 1993   First remote wireless transmission of data from machines to warehouses.   • 1999   New dollar coin introduced by U.S. Mint.