1783 the mechanical turk pictured a fraudulent chess playing 04 17
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1783 243 years ago Selected Events April 17 3 sources

The Mechanical Turk (pictured), a fraudulent chess-playing "machine" by Wolfgang von Kempelen that was secretly controlled by a hidden human, began a tour of Europe.

On April 17, in the year 1783, The Mechanical Turk (pictured), a fraudulent chess-playing "machine" by Wolfgang von Kempelen that was secretly controlled by a hidden human, began a tour of Europe. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of April 17, one of 401 recorded events on this date across all of history.

The Mechanical Turk, also known as the Automaton Chess Player or simply the Turk, was a chess-playing machine first displayed in 1770, which appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess autonomously, but whose pieces were in reality moved via levers and magnets by a chess master hidden in its lower cavity. The machine was toured and exhibited for 84 years as an automaton, and continued giving occasional exhibitions until 1854, when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1857, an article published by the owner's son provided the first full explanation of the mechanism, which had been widely suspected to be a hoax but never accurately described while the machine still existed.

Key Facts

  • This event took place on April 17, 1783 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 2 April 2026.

On This Date in History 401

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2022 Apr 17 Radu Lupu, Romanian pianist (born 1945)
Historical Events 2021 Apr 17 The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, takes place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
Notable Deaths 2019 Apr 17 Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, twice President of Peru (born 1949)
Notable Deaths 2019 Apr 17 Gwen Marston, American quilter and writer (born 1936)
Notable Deaths 2018 Apr 17 Barbara Bush, American political matriarch and literacy advocate, First Lady of the United States (1989–1993), and Secon
Notable Deaths 2018 Apr 17 Carl Kasell, American radio personality (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2016 Apr 17 Chyna, American wrestler (born 1969)
Notable Deaths 2016 Apr 17 Doris Roberts, American actress (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2015 Apr 17 Robert P
Notable Deaths 2015 Apr 17 Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (born 1928)
Notable Deaths 2015 Apr 17 Jeremiah J
Notable Deaths 2015 Apr 17 A
Historical Events 2014 Apr 17 NASA's Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another sta
Notable Deaths 2014 Apr 17 Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2014 Apr 17 Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (born 1922)
Notable Deaths 2014 Apr 17 Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (born 1938)
Notable Deaths 2014 Apr 17 Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (born 1940)
Selected Events 2014 Apr 17 NASA announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, the first exoplanet with a radius similar to Earth's discovered in the habi
Historical Events 2013 Apr 17 An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 17 Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 17 Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (born ≈1910)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 17 Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2013 Apr 17 V
Selected Events 2013 Apr 17 An ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at a fertilizer company facility in West, Texas, U
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 Leila Berg, English journalist and author (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 J
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (born 1948)
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (born 1912)
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 Jonathan V
Notable Deaths 2012 Apr 17 Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (born 1917)
Notable Deaths 2011 Apr 17 Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2011 Apr 17 Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (born 1940)
Notable Deaths 2011 Apr 17 Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (born 1926)
Notable Deaths 2008 Apr 17 Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (born 1913)
Notable Deaths 2008 Apr 17 Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (born 1950)
Notable Deaths 2007 Apr 17 Kitty Carlisle, American actress, singer, socialite and game show panelist (born 1910)
Historical Events 2006 Apr 17 A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70
Notable Deaths 2006 Apr 17 Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (born 1907)
Notable Deaths 2006 Apr 17 Scott Brazil, American director and producer (born 1955)
Notable Deaths 2006 Apr 17 Henderson Forsythe, American actor (born 1917)
Selected Events 2006 Apr 17 A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives in a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 11 people and injuring 70
Notable Births 2005 Apr 17 Antonio Nusa, Norwegian footballer
Notable Deaths 2004 Apr 17 Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (born 1908)
Historical Events 2003 Apr 17 Anneli Jäätteenmäki takes office as the first female prime minister of Finland
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 17 Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 17 H
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 17 John Paul Getty Jr
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 17 Earl King, American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2003 Apr 17 Yiannis Latsis, Greek businessman (born 1910)
Notable Births 2001 Apr 17 Shin Ryujin, South Korean rapper, singer and dancer

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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