Many sources credit Hero of Alexandria with inventing the aeolipile.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent sources (Britannica, academic demonstration pages, popular history sites) confirm Hero of Alexandria is widely credited with inventing the aeolipile, though some nuance exists regarding earlier mentions by Vitruvius. [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists | tier=silver indep_score=0.875 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable]