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July 31, 2008 -- A bonus

Kempelen's shock is justified -- the bonus she just handed him is a full year's salary.

He did go on to complete all the tasks that the Empress set out for him -- fountains both at Schönbrunn and Pressburg Castle, a pontoon bridge across the Danube, and later, two steam-engines, one of which he used to dig canals. It's said that they were better than Watt's (he actually beat Watt to his patent by one year), but that he lacked the money to refine them -- though from one account that Standage mentions, one of Kempelen's steam-engines exploded. Yikes.