Angelo Moriondo's 171st Birthday: Google pays tribute to godfather of espresso machines

Angelo Moriondo's 171st Birthday: Google on Monday (June 6, 2022) paid tribute to Angelo Moriondo, the godfather of espresso machines, on his 171st birthday with a special doodle. Moriondo, who was born on June 6, 1851, in Turin, Italy, was the man who patented the first known espresso machine.

Moriondo was born to a family of entrepreneurs as his grandfather was the founder of a liquor production company and his father built the popular chocolate company - "Moriondo and Gariglio". 

Following in his family’s footsteps, Moriondo purchased two establishments: the Grand-Hotel Ligure in the city-center Piazza Carlo Felice and the American Bar in the Galleria Nazionale of Via Roma. With coffee being popular in Italy, the time spent waiting for the coffee to brew inconvenienced customers and Moriondo figured that making multiple cups of coffee at once would allow him to serve more customers at a faster pace, giving him an edge over his competitors. 

After directly supervising a mechanic, Moriondo presented his espresso machine at the General Expo of Turin in 1884, where it was awarded the bronze medal. 

The machine reportedly consisted of a large boiler that pushed heated water through a bed of coffee grounds, with a second boiler producing steam that would flash the bed of coffee and complete the brew. 

"Today, coffee lovers sip in tribute to the godfather of espresso machines," Google said as it paid tribute to Angelo Moriondo.